Heaven's Gate
by Rezol
Summary: Buffy comes back from her summer with her father and discovers that her death had more consequences than anyone could bargain for. With new allies and a world full of gray, how will the council react when their hierarchy is threatened. Eventual Spuffy.
1. Chapter 1

The Slayer stalked through Restfield cemetery on a warm September night. Her short, black, flowy skirt paired with red halter top and fashionable brown leather boots seemed very out of place in the dreary cemetery. The young woman of sixteen who had spent the last year and a half being the boogie man to the evils of the world walked through the head stones keeping her senses alert for any sign of trouble. The stake she always carried with her was securely tucked in her waistband with a back up in her boot. Tonight though, she was also lugging an obviously full backpack through the cemetery with her.

Most nights she has a patrol route she takes that is pre-approved by her watcher, Giles, and on occasion she would take him, her friends, or even Angel with her. Lately though, she had been careful to take at least four nights a week completely on her own. Buffy had had to dodge Angel three times in the last two months since she had been back from L.A. visiting her father after her death, revival, then ass kicking of the master before she lost her temper with the souled vampire. She told him that she appreciated his help, but to stop being "creepy stalker guy". Buffy thought about the fact that Angel had yet to offer to patrol with her since she chewed him out as she walked deeper into the forest of graves. She never said to stop helping her all together, just to be out in the open and to tell her when he was coming instead of just showing up randomly. Apparently that was too much to ask of her crush because she hadn't seen him in two weeks except when he would stop by the library during school to pass along his cryptic messages.  
With Angel on her mind, Buffy took a turn heading for the older part of Restfield towards the bigger family crypts that make up that part of the grounds. She stopped only once, tossing the book bag with a heavy thud off to the side, to dust a vampire that was still covered in dirt with his game face at the forefront. After a quick slay, not even enough to break her stride, Buffy sighed and frowned as she brushed herself off. She then picked the bag up checking to make sure its contents were not damaged before sliding it back on. When she got to a relatively large crypt, she stopped and looked around once more then closed her eyes. Throwing out her slayer senses she made sure there weren't any unwanted taggers along before she continued to the door of the crypt. She was only able to pick up the feeling of two vamps that were both inside the crypt, right where she knew they should be. With a small grin growing on her face, Buffy placed her fist on the crypt door and knocked five times in quick succession, before she pushed the heavy metal door open with a loud creak.

She only cracked the door to open enough to allow space for her and the backpack to fit through before she slid in and closed it behind her. The interior was dim, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the low light that was being given off by the scattering of candles along the walls and on top of the two stone sarcophagus. The table in the center of the space was square and slightly smaller than a pool table, it housed a few candles along with a stack of several large, old looking books. Buffy headed over and pulled out a chair. She placed the backpack down on it and looked around. She spied a large red cooler over by one of the sarcophagus and let out an "aha" before she walked over and brought it back to the table. As she unziped the backpack and opened the cooler, she called out to the seemingly empty crypt.

"Dalton, Tony! Is it you guys down there?" she yelled while she pulled out four blue gel icepacks from the cooler and placed them onto the table. She then reached into the backpack to pull out four new ones and replaced the old ones. "I brought you guys some diner, sorry though, they were low on pig so I had to get some chicken too," she informed the unseen occupants. Just as she pulled out a packet of blood from her bag, a slab of stone by the back wall slid over and a balding head popped up from the formally hidden hole underneath of it.

"Buffy, we thought you were coming by earlier. I was getting worried. Another twenty minutes and I would have sent out Tony to look for you," the older man with glasses said as he climbed up out of the hole. Not more than a moment later, he was followed by a young man with light brown skin and short curly hair who looked no older than twenty-five at most. Buffy's face lit up like the sun with excitement.

"I knew it was you two. I'm getting sooo much better at telling your vampy vibes apart from each other. And yeah, I know, late, sorry. I had to wait for Angel to leave the butcher's before going in. Apparently he spends more time talking to him than to me." Buffy pouted as she put the last pack in the cooler and closed the lid. "Where is Jenna though? I'm not feeling her vampy vibes around.''

"She went out to see about getting a job. She says sitting around all night reading or playing cards was slowly turning her brain to mush. She gets bored easily. She wants to get an apartment so we can have electric and cable. Dalton over here could care less as long as you still bring him books, but I'm with her. Probably going to look into jobs soon myself," the tall younger vampire answered as he came and took a seat in the chair opposite her. Dalton claimed the chair to her right as she reached into the bag and pulled out a small but ancient looking book about the size of a pocket dictionary.

"Speaking of books, I saw this in a box of books Giles was going to put away after a research party, and thought I may have remembered this as one of the ones you've talked about before," Buffy told the bespectacled vamp as he took the book and examined it. Tony just rolled his eyes, and shooks his head with a grin.

"You and those books man, I bet if we locked you in a library you wouldn't notice for a week." Tony crossed his arms and leaned forward placing them on the table. "You bring me anything, my lady?" he asked Buffy with a waggle of his eyebrows. Buffy laughed but rolled her eyes before unzipping the front pouch of her backpack, and pulling out a twelve pack of AA batteries along with a Gameboy. She handed them over to an eager vamp with a smile. Tony took them and immediately pulled out the game cartridge smiling.

"So I'm assuming Mario is okay then? It's all I had. The other games were given to my neighbor's kid as a last minute gift because my mom forgot to buy her something when we got invited to her twelth birthday party a few months ago. I never play that thing anymore anyway," Buffy told them as she moved the book bag to the floor and sat down. Turning to Dalton, "is the book one of the right ones?" she asked. Dalton looked up from where he was flipping through the pages carefully and nodded.

"Yes, this one may have mention of recalling lost souls so it hopefully will give you some answers. I still maintain that research would go faster if you at least told your watcher. He may have books that even you don't know about. He might know where to look for other research materials better than me. He does have the watchers council with all their resources," the bookish man told her, sounding as if he was repeating something he had said several times. Buffy just frowned and shook her head.

"No, Giles has a hard enough time dealing with Angel. Its not that I don't trust him. It's just that I don't trust that him looking into it might not get noticed. I mean one souled vamp is crazy enough, but three more on top of that, plus the fact that I made them that way makes for so much of the potential badness," Buffy insisted while she looked around as if to make sure no one else is listening. " I can see it now. Giles will polish his glasses until he pops the lenses out going 'Oh dear' every few minutes until I go crazy. The whole thing already gives me the wiggins as it is. I don't need Giles to go all wonky watcher on me too, or the council to find out about what I can do now and then doing who knows what to me. I don't know why, but ever since they let me sit in that hospital before I came here I don't trust them. I mean they had to have known I was there. They keep track of EVERYTHING." Dalton just noded at the argument he'd heard plenty of times before. The man knew that she would have to tell her watcher eventually, but he also figured that if he pressed her too much she'd close her self off from logic completely. He attempted a compromise by occasionally bringing it up to keep the thought in her head, but never pushed her to change her mind.

"Okay, Miss Buffy, but be careful with taking all theses books then," Dalton motioned to the books on the table. "He's a watcher and a librarian. He has to know he has missing books." Buffy just waved her hand dismissively.

"Yeah, but I'm supposed to be studying this stuff anyway for my training. Plus, Willow likes to borrow the books to learn new stuff too. As long as I don't keep too many out then he won't think anything weird is going on." Buffy then turned to face Tony, who was already playing the Gameboy with intense concentration. "On another note, where did Jenna say she was going to look for a job? Don't you need like, a social security number for that? One that doesn't belong to a dead person anyway," she asked him.

"This is Sunnydale, plenty of demon run businesses that don't ask for that kinda stuff. She said something about asking one of the demon bars about maybe needing a waitress or maybe that 24hr gas station on the outskirts that's run by a Voltera demon named Bart," Tony answered without even looking up. Buffy bit her bottom lip and noded.

"Okay, that's cool. I'm still trying to get used to the idea of peaceful demons running around with humans never noticing. I know you've proven it but its way weird that I've probably been interacting with you guys for my whole life and never noticed," she admited as Tony paused his game and looked up to meet her eyes.

"I understand. Gotta give you credit though, you took the whole 'didn't need a soul to love' thing really well. The peaceful demon thing will grow on you, I promise," Tony reassureed.

"Well, when I have an unsouled Jenna crying and begging me to give her her soul back, so she can be with you and have you not hate her, its hard to keep pretending that vampires can't feel love. Really Tony, she was more heartbroken than an all day lifetime movie marathon all rolled into one." Buffy sighed. Tony's playful grin turned sad.

"I didn't want to hurt her like that, but when you gave me my soul back all I could see when I looked at her was the last three years of sin we had together and the fact that she didn't regret any of it. I knew that if I stayed with her, my demon would be too tempted to continue right on doing what it craves. I may have a soul now, but the demon is still there. The soul doesn't change me, just makes me feel bad about what I am and what I do. I loved her without it and with it I still love her the same. I just can't stand the idea of hurting people anymore. I know she could have been good like she swore she could without it, but she never would have understood why she was being good," he said as he seemed to disappear into himself to dwell on his past.

Buffy remembered the day she first meet Jenna two weeks ago. The female vamp walked slowly up to her as she was coming up to the crypt that they were currently in. She had her hands up in the air in surrender, and it was obvious she had been crying for a very long time. It had only been four days since Tony had been souled, and he was finally coming out of the crazy guilt stage and into the quite brooding stage. It took a lot less time than Dalton because he had the other vamp there to help him through it. Had the woman approached Buffy three months prior, she would have staked her without a second thought, thinking it was a trick. But at that point, she had spent time with and had a chance to get to know Dalton. By then, her black and white world was already beginning to bleed with shades of gray. Buffy still had her stake out and pushed out her Slayer senses. She could tell it was only the woman with the two vamps she knew about waiting in the crypt behind her.

Apparently she had tracked down her lover, and he had rejected her. She had spent the last two days trying and failing to get him to come with her and being constantly sent away. Dalton had filled her in on what had happened to him and Tony, and she had been horrified but willing to do whatever she needed to be with him. So she approached Buffy that night, crying and begging the Slayer to make her acceptable to her true love.

"Please Slayer, whatever you did to Tony, do it to me too," the grief stricken woman begged with tears running down her face. "I can't live without him, he's my mate, were claimed. It would be agaony to leave him. I love him more than anything!" She sobbed as she fell to her knees and bowed her head, allowing the tears to fall to the ground. Buffy was struck speechless at her obvious heartache. The Slayer watched for several minutes as the woman just stood on her knees at her feet pouring her fear of losing the one she loved out in a very intense show of her inner ache.  
"Tell me, what do I have to do? Please!" The grief stricken woman screamed when she looked up at Buffy, letting her demon come out while still staying prostrate before the Slayer. Buffy took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes, not sure what she was searching for. She found it though, the little spark of something that made this vampire more than just a souless thing, a little something extra that made this undead person so very much alive.

"I'll do it but I have to warn you that there is a fifty fifty chance that you'll just go poof, I'm not sure how this works exactly. If you're serious though, just give me your wrist." Buffy conceded and had to take hald a step back as the vampiress was up and holding her wrist out to her before she could even blink.

"He's worth it," she stated with hope and determination in her eyes. Buffy nodded and chomped on her tongue to bring the blood into her mouth as she grabbed her wrist and bit down thus returning Jenna's soul back to her in another nearly blinding flash of light.

The first time, the same night she got back from spending the summer with her father, it was an accident. She had been fighting a nest of vampires she had accidentally run across. Dalton had been a part of sed nest. She had taken a hit to her jaw by one of the last two vamps left that caused her bite her tongue hard enough to fill her mouth with blood. She remembers spitting out the sudden rush of copper tasting liquid before she pinned the vamp that hit her to the wall. Just before she raised her stake to take out the vamp, Dalton snaked his arm around her raised arm and neck to try and pull her off his sire. She didn't even think. She just bit into his arm hard enough to break skin so that he would let go. The moment her blood mingled with his though, she felt a burning in her blood. Buffy then felt something pass through her and into the vamp before the entire broken down house surrounding them lit up with a blinding soft blue light. Dalton dropped his arms immediately and started screaming while holding his head.

Buffy and the vampire she was about to stake both froze and watched in horror as Dalton began sobbing before falling to the floor and curled up in a ball.

"Monster, monster, I'm a monster" Dalton kept repeating to himself in horror over and over again on an endless loop. Buffy and the other vampire stared, suspended mid fight as they watched the broken vampire loosing his mind. The pinned vamp was the first to beak the silence.

"How did you do it?"He whispered in shocked yet terrified awe. Buffy tore her eyes away from the scene behind them to look back at him confused.

"Huh? Are you saying I did that him? Whats wrong with him?" She questioned puzzled. The vampire's eyes narrowed in rage and he sneered at her.

"YOU BITCH! You don't even realize do you? You gave him back his soul" he hissed at her right before trying to punch her in the face. Buffy saw it coming and before he could even blink she pushed him away from her. He came back to attack and Buffy ducked down and off to the side to spin around and catch the vamp in the back with her stake. As he turned to dust, Buffy walked slowly over to Dalton with her waepon still raised, ready to end him if it was just some trick. When he noticed her however, he looked up at her with haunted eyes.

"Please, just kill me before I hurt someone else," he quietly pleaded. For some reason, the slayer part of her and the human part of her were completely in agreeance, and she couldn't bring herself to do it. She stayed looking at his eyes and all she could see was the man behind them. She couldn't kill him.

She took him home with her that night. Thankfully her mom was on a buying trip that week. Buffy spent the next five days until her mom got home trying to pull the man together. She never figured out why she couldn't bring herself to tell anyone that first night. Something was telling her that she did this to him, so she had to help him and that if anyone found out it would be bad. Something told her that they would have staked the intelligent and kindhearted bookworm . He deserved better than that, and she was convinced that if they found out how it was she was able to recall the souls of vampires then maybe she could insure that her new friends would stay safe after the truth came out.

Now here they were, near the end of September and two more ensouled vampires later, still looking for answers. Over the last two months all of them had become very important friends to her, even Jenna who was their most recent addition. Dalton cleared his throat and Buffy jerked out of her inner musing as Dalton pushed a stack of four large tomes towards the young blond. Tony had gone back to his game when Buffy had zoned out into her own head and left her to her thoughts.

"I'm done with these if you wanted to bring them back to the watcher. It may be less suspicious if you're bringing books back as well as taking them." Dalton smiled at her as she pulled her self together and gave him a weak smile in return.

"You're right," she agreed, grabbing the books and placing them in the backpack along with the four older used icepacks. "I should get going soon anyway. I just stopped by to check up on you guys and bring by the goodies. Tell Jenna I'm sorry I missed her, and I hope she can find that job. If you need me, you know how to get in touch. My mom will be out of town again next week, so if you need to you can stop by as long as you make sure that no one is home but me first. I'll see you in a few days. I may have to bring extra supplies then though because I have to help with parent teacher night in a few days or Snyder will expel me. I may also need your help with some French homework Dalton, if you're up for it," Buffy listed off as she ziped up the backpack, stood, and threw it over her shoulder.

"That will be fine, Miss Buffy. I may be a bit rusty with my French, but it should be easy to pick back up," Dalton reassured the teen as she headed for the crypt door to leave. "Be safe on your way home, okay?" he threw out when she began to close the door behind her. She paused before the door shut all the way and turned her head around with a large smile in place to look at her vampires.

"Of course I will. I'm the Slayer." She pulled the door closed and walked into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not Own Buffy the vampire Slayer, that right belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy

Two nights before parent teacher night, Buffy burst into the crypt to find the vampires had added a large brown leather couch and loveseat to the d cor. It made the space much more homey even if it was a little bit cramped in the upper level now. Jenna,  
an even smaller woman than Buffy with long, straight, black hair and rich mahogany-colored skin, was curled up on Tony's lap on the smaller love seat. Dalton was sitting at the center table with several books open and spread out in front of him. Buffy  
threw the door open causing all three vampires to look up to see the Slayer who seemed to be bursting to say something. Buffy took a deep breath and slowly closed the door taking a second to pull herself together. When she finally turned around to face  
the three curious vamps she had a nervous smile on her face.

"So, new furniture? Looks nice. Did that come from the dump like the table? Is this a pull out sofa?" Buffy asks as she moves to sit on the unoccupied couch. Tony sat up straighter, pulling Jenna more into his lap and looked over to Buffy.

"It was sitting out on someone's curb after they moved. Its got a few tears on the sides, smells like they had a dog... but yeah, it's a sleeper sofa. Are you okay, girly? You seem a little bit... off. Did something happen?" Tony answered slowly waiting  
for an answer to his questions as he watched an increasingly fidgety slayer try to act casual and fail horribly. Jenna took notice of Buffy's failure to answer.

"Come on, hun. You can tell us. We're as good as family now. Is it something we can help with?" Jenna spoke up from her comfy seat on her lover's lap. She may have been a soulless vampire just a few weeks ago, but she had never been the worst of the worst.  
She was kind for a vampire even if she did enjoy the smell of fear on her prey and the thrill of the kill. She had noticed that about the other two vampires that made up her new nest also. They were very human even without a soul. The soul just gave  
her back her guilt and regret for people she'd considered food hadn't brought that up to the Slayer yet, but she planned to soon. Buffy laughed nervously for a second before slumping back into the cool leather of the sofa.

"I think I'll be fine. It's everyone else that is freaking out. There is this new vamp in town, and he showed up at the Bronze last night. He didn't attack me or anything but got all with the 'ill see you on Saturday', and then I was all like 'what happens  
on Saturday', and then he was like 'I kill you'. Then he just left." She started to whine as if it upset her that she didn't get to fight him, but continued with her rant while the three vampires looked on in worry at her apparent nonchalance. "When  
I told Giles about it and described what the guy looked like Angel overheard from where he was being all creepy eavesdropper again. He came in and told us his name is Spike, or William the Bloody or something. He said he's all dangerous and never  
gives up and..." Buffy didn't get the chance to finish because as soon as she said Spike's name all three vamps eyes went wide. Suddenly they were all on their feet and standing in front of her with worried looks.

"WILLIAM THE BLOODY! Are you sure that's what Angel called him because that's not a joke. He's a member of the Arulians, a direct descendent from the Master!" Tony began to freak out from his spot in front off Buffy on the sofa where all three of them  
were towering over her, surrounding her with worried looks.

"I've read about him Buffy. He's called the Slayer of Slayers! He's gone up against several, and they couldn't kill him. He killed two of them!" Dalton added in as he wrung his hands.

"He got the nickname Spike from driving railroad spikes through his victims heads after he was first sired like 120 some years ago. He's a damn celebrity, hunny. Dangerous as they come!" Jenna squeaked out afraid for her new family member. Buffy, during  
this whole conversation, had been slowly wrapping her arms around herself. At Tony's mention of the Master, Buffy lost most of the color in her face.

"Well, I guess I better spend the next two days training then, huh?" She offered with a nervous laugh. Tony knelt down in front of her and placed his hand on her knee, while Jenna and Dalton stood on eitherside of Buffy each placing an arm around her.  
Tony was the first to speak.

"We have your back. Like Jenna said, you're family now. You gave us back something we lost. It may have been bad for us for a while, but we've all come to understand that it was a good thing we got our souls back. It's hard. I won't lie, but I don't regret  
it. I wouldn't go back to being that person that murdered with no remorse even if some days the demon part of me is screaming for it. We're grateful for what you did for us, Slayer," Tony informed her.

"It was a gift, a chance to do some right and make up for all the pain we caused. Honestly, even if something happened, and I lost my soul again, I know that I wouldn't go back to what I was even if it was only to not hurt you. We've been changed. You've  
made us something new." Dalton put in his hand on his part.

"We will head out tonight and find out what we can about him. See if we can feel out his plans, okay? We'll get back to you as soon as we find out anything." Jenna leaned her head on Buffy's shoulder as soon as she noticed a tear track down Buffy's face.

Buffy was the Slayer, and as such she had always been expected to be the hero, placed on a pedestal of perfection that she tried her hardest to live up to. She was the one who everyone expected to save the day. Yes, her friends offered her help and encouragement,  
but it was all while pushing her in the direction of danger. They stood with her, but behind her. These people who she had only known for a short time gave her something that she didn't even know she was lacking. They were standing with her while  
standing beside her, willing to jump out front if need be. They were right. Somehow in this small space of time that she had become acquainted with this mismatched, little troupe of vampires they HAD become like a family. Buffy suddenly felt the safest  
she had been able to feel since before the Master left her to drown in that puddle.

"Thank you," Buffy quietly said as she sniffled. Her sniffles, however, eventually broke out into relieved sobs as she realized she was surrounded by her new family.

The next night Buffy patrolled her watcher approved route with Willow and Xander as tag alongs. There were no unusual deaths in the paper, and so far it was a quiet night. Buffy was still nervous about Saturday, but she was choosing to focus on the nearer  
problem of parent teacher night. Willow was being supporto girl and Xander was doing his best to make her laugh.

"So Buffy, I think Snyder will definitely be forced to expel Sheila instead of you tomorrow night. She didn't even show up for school today. I mean, really shows how important education is to her right," Willow offered as they made their way through the  
newest section of Shady Rest. Buffy wore a smile for her best friend's sake. Willow really was trying her best to put forward the optimism. Xander nodded in agreement.

"And if you do get expelled, just think, you never have to deal with his angry, little face or his shrill voice again. I mean, home school is so much better anyway," Xander added, propmting Willow to backhand him in the gut forcing a huff of air out of  
his lungs. Xander had the good sense to look contrite.

"Really guys, I'll be fine. I have you to help with the preparations AND herding my mom away from Snyder all night, so I'm really not worried." The blond teen fibbed, while the threesome began to head for the front of the cemetery. It seemed time to head  
home for the night.

As they turned left out of the main gates towards Willow's, Buffy noticed Jenna leaning up against a lamppost on the street corner. Buffy was curious as to the reason she didn't wait to see her until after patrol. She kept up the conversation with her  
friends, as they got closer to the corner. Buffy took care not to make more than a glance at the vampiress who was obviously waiting for her. Xander and Willow were busy talking about going to the Bronze later that weekend as they finally approached  
the light. Jenna shot Xander a sweet smile as he paused to take notice of her. They crossed the street quickly, though, leaving her behind. Buffy kept talking to Willow so that she wouldn't seem like she was paying special attention to the apparent  
stranger.

"Hey!" They were halfway across the street when they heard Jenna's call. The three teens stopped in the middle of the street to turn and look at the small woman running up to them. When she got to them she held out a folded piece of paper to Buffy.

"This fell out of your back pocket," Jenna told Buffy with a wink before turning around and heading back to lean on the street light, appearing as if she was waiting for someone. "Thank you!" Buffy called to her sliding the note in her back pocket and  
turned to finish crossing the street with her friends in tow.

"That was nice of her," Willow observed. "We need some more nice people like that in the world. "

"Well, that's what the Buffster is for. She stops all the nice people from getting snacked on. So good job Buffy! That means you're making a difference," Xander joked, never realizing that Jenna had been a vamp snack just three years prior. Buffy let  
out a sudden and loud laugh about the whole situation.'Xander doesn't even realize what how wrong he is about Jenna' she mused. Willow looked at Buffy, a worried expression on her face at her friends' unexpected bout of laughter.

"Do you not think you make a difference? Because Xander is right even if he was joking. It's much safer with you around. I mean people still shouldn't go out after dark too much or hang out in cemeteries...hey, do you think that lady will be all right  
by herself back there?" Willow looked over her shoulder as they made the last turn onto her street.

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Will. We just ran a patrol, and it's been really quiet recently. I think maybe the local baddies are gearing up for something this Saturday like Spike said last night." Buffy reached over giving her friend's shoulder a pat.

"And that's a good thing how?" Xander questioned with a raised brow waiting for Buffy to explain her reasoning behind her statement. "I mean, yeah, tonight is safe, but we could be dealing with some major issues come Saturday. We still don't know a lot  
about it." Buffy just rolled her eyes at her best guy friend.

"Its not that I'm not worried. It's just that I realized stressing about it wouldn't help. We are going to get through tomorrow night and spend every free minute Friday researching. We'll find out about Spike and anything and everything that could happen.  
Trust me Xander. I am taking this way seriously," Buffy answered as they got to Willow's front door.

"Wow Buffy, when did you get all with the grown-upness and maturity?" Willow joked. Buffy released a soft laugh.

"Yeah Buff, you almost sound like the school councilor there," Xander added in.

"Yeah, I could totally see that. I could go to school and get my degree in that so I can stay parked right on top of the hell mouth as a career choice. It could work," the Slayer admitted with a suddenly thoughtful expression on her face. Thinking about  
her future, always brought her early expiration date to the forefront of her mind. She decided to keep this to herself.

"Well, when that job fair comes around later you can skip it then. I think that sounds like a great idea. If only we knew if Snyder still planned on being the principal when your ready to start then it could be called perfect," Willow encouraged with  
a few nods of her head. "But lets not talk about his royal poopheadness anymore. You going to crash on my couch tonight, Xander? Its already past midnight," The red head finished as she opened the front door holding it open for her friends.

"Yeah, I think I will. I know I have clothes over here still, and its probably already past my parents' pass out time. Don't want to wake 'em," Xander said making light of his not so perfect home situation. Both him and Willow turn to Buffy as if to see  
if she'd follow them inside.

"Well guys, I'll see you tomorrow at school. I gotta get in bed before my mom notices I'm out past curfew again. BYE!" Buffy said giving her friends one last smile and bolting back towards her house. The note in her back pocket still on her mind. Willow  
and Xander just shrugged to each other and headed inside to safety for the rest of the night.

When Buffy rounded the corner she stopped under a street lamp where the light is bright enough to read by. She reached into her jean pocket producing the note. It wasn't very long but she instantly understands.

Our bookworm wiggled his way into the apple. He's gonna share the juicy bits with us tomorrow morning for breakfast. We really want to share all the yummy goodness with you before you head off to the library.

'So Dalton got into the nest and has information, huh? Good for him. I'm guessing this means that they want me to stop by the crypt before I head to school tomorrow,' Buffy thinks as she slips the note back into her pocket.

That night when she climbs under the safety of her covers she makes sure to set her alarm for an hour earlier than usual.


	3. Chapter 3

Dalton wandered around the old factory where the Aurelians had set up shop with the Anointed One as their leader. It wasn't as hard to get in as he thought. All he had to do was go to Willie's and complain to another vampire there that the Slayer had taken out his sire and that now he was trying to make it alone. The vamp had asked him if he wanted revenge. Dalton had shifted into his game face, and responded with of course.

He was told if he was serious he could join with the forces of the Anointed One and attack the Slayer with them on Saturday. He was a very loose lipped, barley out of his grave fledge who seemed eager to please his master. It only took Dalton a few more minutes to find out the address of their nest. He told him he would be there later; he just had to grab a few things from his old place.

He ran back to the crypt leaving a note for either Tony, Jenna, or Buffy to find saying where he would be, and that he would be back right before sunrise knowing that they would worry he didn't wait for them. Dalton knew they only had two more days, so he made a mad rush to the factory.

When he got there, he could tell right away that something big was up. There were vampires, at least two-dozen, gathered in one of the rooms, chanting something. There was another six just wandering about, and Dalton was sure there must be others that were out of his sight. He introduced himself to the small child vampire in charge; all the while thinking that this many enemies were definitely going to be a problem. When asked why he was there, he relayed his story about the Slayer destroying his nest and killing his sire. He told them he wanted revenge. The child seemed pleased at that and told him about the night of Saint Vigeous. Dalton was barley able to hide his horror at the fact that nearly three-dozen berserk vampires were planning on attacking Buffy all at once. He excused himself to take more of a look around when another vampire walked up to the child to ask him a question.

He made his way down an empty hallway and took a seat at a large table in the middle of the last room. He was trying to think of ways to stop the Order of Aurelius before Saturday when was startled from his musings by a doll being placed on the table in front of him. He looked up to find a tall, dark-haired, and slender woman staring at him. Her eyes seemed to focus on him one moment then through him the next. She was wearing a long, short sleeved white gown with a shawl. Bruises up here arms and neck were evident even through the material. When he didn't do anything but stare at her, she gave him a small smirk and sat in the chair beside him, bringing the doll into her lap.

"Miss Edith told me we had a visitor. I wanted to come see for myself," she told Dalton in a wispy London accent. She took the porcelain doll with its long hair and strangely blindfolded eyes and held her up for Dalton to see. "I am very cross with her for keeping secrets until the last moment, so I have put her in time out."

" I-I... I see that miss, how is it that she knew I was here?" Dalton inquired nervously, getting the feeling that this woman was not all right in the head. The dark beauty just smiled at him as she placed the doll in her arms and began to rock her like a baby.

"She talks with the pixies. They whisper in our heads, tell me secrets and such. What should I call you?" she asked while starting to rock her own body back and forth a bit.

"Umm Dalton, Miss..." he started, but was interrupted by a man stomping into the room and shouting.

"Drusilla! There you are! I was goin' mad lookin' for you, Princess," the man with the matching London accent to hers came right up to the seat Drusilla was sitting in and crouched down to her level to try and look her in the face as he spoke to her softly. She kept her eyes averted but stopped rocking herself. The man, all in black with short, slicked back, bleached blond hair placed a hand painted with black, chipped nail polish gently on her head. " I told you to stay in bed today, and I'd bring you diner when I got back. Why did you go wanderin' about with out me here?" Drusilla looked up, not at the man, but at Dalton instead.

"The ray of sunshine came in through the cracks in the window. Miss Edith told me about it, so I came to see. Its almost time for you to play with the sunshine, my Spike," she answered him in a riddle. Spike just frowned as he turned to look at Dalton, seemingly noticing him for the first time.

"Who 're you then?" Spike asked switching from the sweet way he was talking to the vampiress to a more brusque tone. Dalton flinched at the change.

"Dalton, sir. I just joined the nest tonight. Mine was wiped out by the Slayer. They promised me revenge," he offered as an introduction and explanation. Spike ran his eyes over him, sizing him up.

"Slayer is mine mate. Don't go gettin' any ideas in that head of yours that your gonna be the one to take her out," he informed him. Dalton only nodded. He could feel the power rolling off this vampire and could tell that he was a master. This was definitely William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers. Actually meeting the man did nothing but increase his fear for Buffy's life. He held Dalton's gaze for a second before the bespectacled man looked away. Drusilla let out a little giggle as he looked down. They both turned to look at her as she gazed up to the ceiling and sighed.

"Shame, shame, my William. This one already belongs to the sunshine. No point in ruining the party. He already tastes like ash, and it will be your turn soon," Drusilla sang, but then looked down and pouted sadly. "I will miss you so, but Daddy will be here soon enough. The stars have told me so." Spike's face took on an air of confusion with a distinct undertone of anger.

"Dru, you know I won't leave you, especially to him. I love you too much baby," Spike corrected her. His features softened as he moved to land a kiss on her lips. More quickly than Dalton thought possible, the obviously ill vampiress leaned to the side, avoiding his kiss and struck out with clawed nails to rake four long cuts down his left cheek.

"NO! Shame on you, Spike. Mummy told you that you're meant for the sunshine now, and we'll have none of that. I don't want to be burned too. The spark is meant for you alone. It would destroy mummy. The pixies told me so," she hissed at the shocked vampire, as Dalton looked on slacked jawed. Spike pulled himself together and clenched his jaw before forcing a patient, loving look onto his face.

"Princess, come on. Lets get you back in bed. The sun will be up soon, and you need to eat. I don't know what the pixies are tellin' you, but I belong only to you, and I don't plan on walkin' outside after the sun comes up. I don't like the idea of catching on fire, kitten. Love you more than anything, I do." Spike placed his hands on her shoulders and gently lifted Drusilla up onto her feet. She swayed a bit and leaned into her childe.

"Mummy knows you love her, but you were never meant for me, sweet William. I belong to Daddy, and you belong to the Sunshine. It will be beautiful; you'll burn up to ashes and rise up like a phoenix. So deadly, you'll shine so bright you'll blind any who dares to stare to long. Your light will be radient as the sun itself, instead of warm little sun rays like him and his family," She whispered sadly as Spike led her away. Before completely leaving the room, he shot Dalton a warning look letting him know that if he told anyone about what he saw he would have to answer to him.

Dalton watched them leave and let out a shaky breath as he got up from his seat. He took a second to feel out the sunrise, and he realized that he needed to leave soon if he was going to make it back in time. He headed out into the hall and sniffed the air making sure he wasn't being followed by the two vamps that had just left before he made his exit.  
Halfway to the crypt, Dalton had to run as fast as he could as he tried to make it before the sun rose and he burned to death like Drusilla claimed Spike was destined to do. He made it through the door slamming it shut behind him just as he started to feel the sun's warmth. Tony and Jenna jumped up from where they were seated on the love seat and rushed over to him ready to pat down the beginings of any little flames. Dalton was lucky though, and he didn't even smoke.

"What the hell man? That was cutting it too close," Tony scolded as Dalton went over to lay down the couch.

"I had meant to leave earlier, but I met Spike and his paramour Drusilla. She is absolutely crazy. She was taking to me, and then he was there and they were fighting, I think... I'm just very confused," Dalton mumbled as he took off his glasses and laid his arm across his eyes.

"Did you find out anything useful?" Jenna asked him, sounding anxious.

"OH YES! I DID!" Dalton sat up straight very quickly. The other two members of his family were giving him their full attention now. "The Order of Aurelius is planning on sending out almost three dozen berserk vampires on our Buffy this Saturday. Apparently it's the night of Saint Vigeous. It will give the vampires who do the right rituals a power up. They will be stronger...out of their minds." They all wore the same look of dread on their faces.

"Well, that doesn't sound good at all, now does it?" a voice from the slightly cracked crypt door said. The three vampires jumped. They were all so enraptured by Dalton's explanation and by their own nervous thoughts that they never heard the knock or the door opening. Buffy took a step through the cracked door and closed it behind her careful not to let any sunlight in.

"Buffy! You're like a damn ninja sometimes, you know that?" Tony swore as the Slayer walked over and sat down on the arm of the loveseat facing the sofa where Dalton was. "If I had a heartbeat, you would have stopped it." Buffy laughed a little at his words.

"I wasn't trying to sneak. I knocked and everything, I swear," she told them. "So we know what their plan is then? I can tell Giles I beat up a vamp and got the info. We can have a research party and look up this saint veggie guy. Find a way to stop Spike and the other vamps."

"Saint Vigeous," Dalton corrected, "and I think you should just lay low on Saturday, wait it out until they run through their berserk stage and are back to normal." Buffy looked angry at that suggestion.

"I can't just let three dozen berserk vamps, not to metion a master vampire, have free run of the whole town while I sit at home and hide. Too many people could get hurt," Buffy asserted from her place on the couch arm. " I mean seriously, I'm the Slayer. This is my calling...the kinda stuff I'm supposed to be stopping. Am I supposed to sit out the next apocalypse too?" The three vampires had the good sense to look apologetic as Buffy stared them down daring them to tell her any different.

"We weren't suggesting that you stop following your calling, my lady." Tony met her eyes. "We are just trying to make sure you're around for the next big bad thing. You're right though, technically this is the next big bad thing, but..." He paused to make sure Buffy was still listening, "we are just worried about you, and we're not going to apologize for that."

"How about all three of us head back there tonight and see if there's anything we can do. We can all claim to be from the same sire, and that Dalton just went out to get us for the plan and got caught out in the day,'' Jenna suggested. Buffy slowly nodded her head.

"Okay, but you guys need to be careful. Got it? I don't want you guys to get hurt any more than you want me to. If you all even begin to think they find out you're working with me, bolt," Buffy insisted. All three of her vampires laughed.

"I don't think anyone would guess that you have four vampires working with you instead of against you. Much less that three of them consider her their sire and are actively ready to give their lives for her," Jenna added. Buffy looked touched for a moment, but her look quickly switched to one of confusion.

"Four vampires? Wait...oh yeah, Angel. Almost the whole vampire community knows about him already though. See? That's why they would think to add three more to that already unlikely list. And what do you mean I'm your sire?" she asked them. If Dalton could blush, Buffy was sure that he would be bright red.

"Well, we were talking, and Tony mentioned that he can't feel that connection to his sire like he used to. He doesn't recall feeling him dust; he's just not there. When he tries to sense him, all he can feel is the connection we made with you when you acted as a conduit for pulling our souls made Jenna and she can still feel him because they are a claimed couple, but she said that the part of that connection that used to tell her he was her sire has been replaced by your presence. The same goes for me. We think the comment about us being a family the other day wasn't that far off. I think when you bit us and gave us our souls back, you laid a family claim , and you're the head," Dalton explained to the dumbstruck Slayer.

"So I'm like, your master or something? That's just wiggy." 


	4. Chapter 4

Parent teacher night was not turning out like Buffy had hoped. Willow was busy shuffling Buffy's mom from classroom to classroom in an effort to avoid Principal Snyder. Sheila was still a no show, but Buffy still worried about what Snyder would say to her mom. Buffy was in the library talking to Giles and Xander when the doors burst open, and Dalton came crashing in. Buffy thought she might have sensed him, but she was still shocked to see him coming straight towards her.

"BUFFY! We have a major problem! They are on there way here, now! I ran off and took a more direct route to get here before them. They aren't that far behind me though," Dalton huffed out in a panic. Buffy dashed over to him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Slow down Dalton, who's on their way here?" Buffy asked the panicking man.

"Spike and a bunch of the Arulians!" He elaborated as he rung his hands in a nervouse gesture while he deliberatly kept eye contact with Buffy.

"Thank you, Dalton. I'm going to need you to help get the people out while we take care of the dusting. Where are Tony and Jenna?" Buffy said as she began to slip into her Slayer mindset. Giles and Xander looked at the interaction with confusion.

"They stayed back with the group to maybe slow them down a bit if they could. They're on their way with them though. We may have five minutes until then, if that," he told her.

"What happened to waiting until Saturday with the whole night of Saint Veggie? Are they still all extra 'grrr' or what?" she questioned. Giles stepped forward until he was standing beside the two, looking at Dalton questioningly. Dalton glanced at him quickly but looked right back at the Slayer the next second.

"Spike was getting impatient, and then Drusilla started wailing about him being late for the party or some such. He rounded up a bunch of the minions against the Anointed One's wishes and headed here. He found out about your parent teacher night somehow," he finished as Xander took up the other side of Buffy and proceeded to freak out as their visitor mentioned the master vampire.

"SPIKE! He's on his way here? Now? We need weapons, lots of weapons!" Xander spun around and bolted to the cage in the library where he knew Giles kept their weapons stash.

"How many are coming?" Giles asked Dalton when Buffy turned and headed to get weapons for herself.

"About fourteen plus Spike and our two friends. Don't worry about them hurting anyone though. As soon as they can, they'll start dusting them. They'll probably separate them off a few at a time after they get here . It's probably the safest way," Dalton told Giles distractedly keeping track of Buffy while she loaded up on stakes. Giles narrowed his eyes as he observed the man in front f him.

"How is it that you know so much about Spike and his minions, and how come your friends are with them?" Giles asked him as he stepped in front of him to block his view of Buffy. Dalton jumped when his line of sight was broken. He was suddenly unsure of what to say to the watcher, realizing exactly what he had done by busting into the library and revealing himself to Buffy's friends. He didn't know what was okay to tell the man without asking Buffy first. Luckily for him, the decision was taken out of his hands by the return of the girl, herself. She placed a hand on Giles' arm to calm him down and sighed before putting on her best valley girl smile, head tilt and all.

"Giles, this is Dalton. Dalton, this is my watcher, Giles, that I've told you so much about. Now, don't freak, but Dalton is a vampire. Our friends, Jenna and Tony, are too. They all have their souls.I know it sounds like totally weird, but I know its true because I was the one that gave it back to them... and I KNOW you have like a TON of questions, but they are going to have to wait until after we take care of Spike. Okay?" Buffy rambled off in one breath as Giles eyes began to bug out. He took his glasses off and looked down as he polished them vigorously.

"Oh dear, well, be assured we will be sitting down and going over everything from the beginning, but you're correct in wanting to get though this first. Just one thing though, are you sure they can be trusted?" Giles placed his glasses back on his face and met Buffy's eyes seeing the seriousness of her conviction.

"Yes, Giles. I trust them. Now lets get these people out." She turned around and started towards the double doors, leaving Xander just standing by the table with his mouth hanging wide open after having heard her whole speech.

"MORE vampires with souls... Do they just hand them out at the DMV now or something?" he exclaimed shooting a disbelieving glare in Dalton's direction.

"Now is not the time. I need you and Dalton," he gestured to Xander and then to the vampire, "to find Willow and Cordelia and start getting the parents and teachers out safely. Tell them that a man with a student told me that there was going to be an attack on the school by a gang hopped up on PCP, and that we need to evacuate. Now, go. I will find Principle Snyder," Giles ordered the other men as he shoed them out the doors before grabbing several stakes himself and hiding them on his person. As he headed out the door after them, he couldn't help but feel a spark of excited curiosity about the prospect of more souled vampires.

Twenty minutes later, Buffy was facing off with a cocky bleach blond vampire. Between her friends and the early warning they had thanks to Dalton, they had all the parents and teachers evacuated out the back of the school when Spike and all the Arulians arrived, busting through windows and breaking down doors. Dalton was correct in guessing what Jenna and Tony were up to. They split up with a few vamps each and used the element of surprise to dwindle their number down enough that Buffy only had to dust five of them herself before she came across Angel and Spike ranting. Angel had tried to use Xander to trick Spike, but the British vampire was smarter than Angel gave him credit for and called him on his charade. Buffy arrived at the end of their 'conversation' and ordered Angel to get Xander out of there. Spike was hers. Angel left with barely a nod in her direction.

The fight started off on fairly equal ground, but a few minutes in Buffy began to struggle. Spike was the best fighter she had ever faced. Unlike others, and more like herself, he liked to keep an almost constant running commentary, throwing her off her game. Spike kept making comments that Buffy found way crude. That, combined with the leering and the way he kept bringing attention to certain parts of his anatomy, was a constant distraction.

During one of these moments, Spike had managed to grab Buffy's arm just as he dodged her punch. He threw her into a wall hard enough to daze her and bloody up her nose. Just as he was about to throw a punch at the back of her head, she managed to drop down and leave empty space for his fist to slam throw the wall. He didn't even have to pause to pull his arm out before reaching down to grab the still dazed Slayer by the hair and throw her down onto the tile floor in the center of the hallway. Buffy landed and her head smacked into the hard floor. She could taste the blood from her nose running down her face and into her mouth. She knew more blood was beginning to coat the back of her head.

"Your blood smells like ambrosia, Slayer. I am going to make your neck my chalice before this night is over," the cocky master vampire growled out as he reached down and grabbed her leg to pull her towards him. He pinned her arms at her sides then straddled her effectively trapping her under him. He took a second to savor her panic then lunged for her throat. Before he could even begin to taste her though, he was grabbed from the back of his duster and thrown into the same wall he just pulled his arm out of. He slid down the wall and looked up when he came to rest in a heap on the floor. He roared in anger when he saw two vampires in full game face standing over the Slayer...his slayer.

"The Slayer is mine! Back off before I pull your spines out through your mouths!" he screamed at the interlopers. The male vampire turned towards him and held up a stake threateningly towards Spike while the female vamp reached down to take the Slayer by the hand and helped her to her feet.

"Are you gonna be okay? I think your nose may be broken," she asked the Slayer, as she appeared to look her over for injuries. Spike's anger quickly turned to flabbergasted confusion.

"Ill be fine. I just got my bell rung as Giles would say. And my nose isn't quite broken, just abused," Buffy answered. "Where's Dalton?"

"He went to make sure your mom and friends all got home safe. We got the rest of the mob taken care of before coming to find you. We told you he was extra dangerous," the other man answered her without taking his eyes off of Spike, running right into an 'I told you so' speech. Spike was frozen to the floor, his brain trying to process what he was seeing.

"What the bloody hell is going on here? You're helpin' the Slayer?" Spike raged as he picked himself up off the floor finally and faced off against the three. He tried to spot a way past them, but they had spread out to surround him. Spike realized he was cornered.

"You were half right, but you turned it around," Tony spoke up as they all took a step towards Spike, backing him up into the wall. "We belong to the Slayer. We would dust for this girl." Spike noticed Buffy blush even though she was frowning. Taking in the scene before him, Spike had a sudden and daunting realization. Drusilla's ramblings were about the Slayer. She was the Sunshine, and they were her rays. The vampires had turned traitor for the killer of their kind. He felt as if the floor had dropped from under him. He took a deep, unneeded breath to calm himself.

"Dru knew this was gonna happen, shoulda listened to her," Spike grumbled as he stood up straight and casually reached into a pocket to pull out a cigarette and lighter. After he had it lit, he took a long slow drag as the three looked on in wonder at his casual attitude. With the cigarette still in his mouth, he took a fighting stance and faced Buffy. "Well, I'm not goin' down without a fight, so come at me then. I'm not gonna roll over like a kicked puppy and make this easy on you."

Buffy couldn't help but admire his guts even if he was a pig. She pulled on her serious slaying face and nodded at him, warrior to warrior, her stance mirroring his. Just before either one of them could make a move, Dalton came bursting back through the doors at the end of the hall.

"Buffy, I see they found you, and you all found him," he said as he quickly walked up to his friends and noticed their questioning looks. "Don't worry. I made sure everyone was safe before I came back," he defended. Spike's squinted his eyes at the new arrival as recognition hit.

"Bloody buggering fuck! No wonder there was no one here. You've been spyin' on me. You were the one Drusilla was talkin' to the other night! She really is the Sunshine Dru was goin on about, and you really are like her rays that found your ways in through the cracks. Shit, knew I shoulda tried to figure out what she was telling me," Spike ranted, still staying ready to fight.

Dalton thought back to the conversation he overheard in the factory between the two master vampires and then looked at Buffy. He immediately noticed the blood running from her nose, right into her mouth and down her chin. A light bulb went off, and his eyes opened wide as the others looked on at the emotions running over his face.

"You belong to the sunshine. You'll burn to ashes and rise up like a phoenix. So deadly, you'll shine so bright you'll blind any who dares to stare to long. Your light will be radient as the sun itself, instead of warm little sun rays like him and his family," Dalton quietly quoted Drusilla's words from the night before as the next thing that was supposed to happen became clear. He felt everyone's eyes on him. They had heard what he said, but only Spike's face showed any understanding of what it might mean.

"That's what Dru said last night. What does that have to do with now?" Spike questioned warily as his eyes did another sweep to look for a way past them, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. Dalton couldn't meet his eyes; instead, he looked to Buffy.

"I think his sire has the sight. I think she saw this happening," he informed Buffy dubiously. Spike took a cautious step to his right waiting for an opening, while the other three were looking at didn't notice his careful movement. Dalton continued, "She kept talking about him burning up and getting a spark. She called me a ray of sunshine, and I think she was referring to you as sunshine and us as your rays." He motioned to Tony, Jenna, and himself. Spike took one more cautious step toward his right, lining himself up to run while the others continued their talk. He was barley paying attention to them, but he did not like what he was hearing, thinking that he knew what the bookish vampire was getting at. They were going to try and talk him over to their side.

'Sod that,' Spike thought as he went to take one more step but was stopped when Tony's head snapped over to look at him. The other three also choose that time to take notice of Spike slowly trying to slink off during their side conversation.

"What are you getting' at?" Spike growled at Dalton, upset that they noticed his attempt to get to a better position while they were distracted. "If you think you can talk me into turnin' into a bloody white hat then you're off your rockers. I'm evil, and no amount of convincing on your part is goin' to change that," Spike maintained keeping his eyes on his opponents. Dalton put a hand on Buffy's arm. Spike tracked the movement with his eyes.

"She kept telling him he belonged to the sunshine," Dalton told her as if that was the answer to everything. Spike looked up to the Slayer's face and saw a deep sadness roll across her features along with what could have been regret before it was quickly replaced by a fierce determination.

"You guys hold him. I know what I have to do," Buffy ordered with a wave of her arm. Spike only had a moment to panic before he found himself flanked by three vamps and a small blond slayer. The struggle only lasted a few seconds before he was held around the neck and one arm in a chock hold by Tony who had a broken cheekbone curtsey of Spikes elbow for his effort. Jenna held his legs together, and Dalton had Spike's right arm pulled straight out to the side. Buffy slid Spike's duster sleeve down his arm to expose his right wrist and forearm. Spike shot a glare that would cower a weaker person but Buffy meets his eyes. The look of sorrow back on her face, she grabbed him by the arm licking all the blood off her upper lip. She knew this wouldn't have been as easy if they hadn't been fighting before and worn each other down already. This man was strong. She felt the strength pouring out of him; scarcely contained by the three other vampires it took to barely be able to hold him down.

"I'm sorry. If this works, I hope you can forgive me one day," Buffy lamented with a look of pure heartache before she plunged her head down and used her blunt human teeth to bite into the skin of the master vampire's wrist. Instantly, Buffy felt the burning in her blood telling her that something was happening, followed immediately by the most painfully feeling she has had as of yet of something ripping though her and passing into the man being held against his will. The resulting flash of light was the brightest to date, and the scream that ripped out of Spike's throat would haunt her until the day she died. She released his wrist and let out a pained scream of her own; it felt like the soul that passed through her and into him was leaving a scorching hole in its wake.

When the light died and the screaming had ended, Tony, Jenna, and Dalton were left with two unconscious warriors. Buffy had collapsed on to the floor, and Spike slumped in Tony's arms. Nothing was said between the three as Dalton bent down to retrieve the woman who seemed impossibly small at that moment. Tony threw Spike over his shoulder. They just looked at each other, and as if coming to a decision by silent communication, they all headed towards home.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Buffy sat in the school library after school had let out. Thanks to last night's school evacuation and Sheila never showing up, Buffy was not blamed for anything that went wrong. She spent most of the day doing her best to sit through classes and pay attention. She knew that as soon as that last bell rang she would be expected to give a full explanation about her secret nest of vampires. She was worried about her friends' reactions just as much as Giles. The biggest question on Buffy's mind though, was what was Giles going to do with this new information. Would he go to the council? She doubted her watcher would question her judgment. He knew her new vampire family had her trust. She was mainly worried about him searching for answers and getting caught.

Buffy fidgeted in her seat as she waited for her watcher to get done with his staff meeting and join them all in the library. Xander, Willow, and Cordy were all there already giving her looks that varied from nervous to accusing. Xander had to have talked to Willow sometime since last night with the look she was sending her. She appeared anxious and bursting with questions. Buffy chewed on her bottom lip as she watched the clock tick off the seconds. Everyone was sitting in complete silence for what seemed like forever. Just as Xander opened his mouth to finally break sed silence, Giles made his way through the double swinging doors. Buffy imagined the sounds of the door swishing on their hinges as nails being hammered into her coffin. Her fidgeting stopped; the watcher made his way past them and into his office with a stack of papers. He returned a minute later with a tea tray holding cups and a kettle. Calmly setting the tray on the table in front of Buffy he began to pour everyone a cup. He handed out the cups, starting with the other three teens and ending with his slayer before he finally spoke.

"Now Buffy, why don't you start from the beginning, and this time, try to breath and use punctuation please," he directed the young woman who appeared to be a few blood pressure points away from a stroke. Buffy took a deep breath as Giles leaned against the counter next to the table, taking a sip of his tea, awaiting her story.

"First off, I would like to say that Saturday is all free and clear. I got word that we dusted too many vamps last night for them to pull off their plans sooo... yay us," Buffy started off with the good news to try and lighten the mood a bit. Everyone did seem relieved for a moment, but they shifted right back into serious, listening faces as she looked around at each of them.

"Good news, now go on with the story Buffy," Giles encouraged. Buffy took another deep breath before jumping in.

"So, the night I got back from L.A. I went on a patrol. I came across a small nest of vamps." Buffy started her story. She told them about how she had accidently bit Dalton to try and get him off of her and the effect it had on him. Giles was quiet the entire tale but the look on his face was one of intense concentration, as if he was memorizing every detail to write down later. When Buffy got past the part about dusting a vamp during her second attempt Cordelia laughed and said something about being careful if She ever wanted to kiss Angel again. Buffy just rolled her eyes and continued, not felling the need to explain to the queen b that Angel had been barley a passing thought since she got back from L.A.

When she explained the part about finding Tony drunkenly stumpling down the ally because he had been arguing with Jenna earlier that day, Xander snorted in laughter. A quick look from Giles had the teen stifeling his amusment, however, and clearing his throat so that Buffy could continue.

"Sooooo, I decided to try one more time. He was an easy target. I bit my tongue that time so I had blood in my mouth and rushed him. When I bit him, the same thing that happened with Dalton happened again. When the bright light faded, I was left with a confused, crazy vamp. He wasn't dangerous, just freaked out. I brought him to the crypt with Dalton, and he spent a few days helping him out of it. I thought I had figured it out so a few days later, the same night Jenna showed up to talk to me, I had tried it again with dusty results for the second time. I warned Jenna about her 50/50 chance, but she said that Tony was worth it, so I bite her too. Luckily it worked, and Tony didn't lose his mate a second time." Giles made her stop there.  
"Wait, are you saying that this Jenna is also a vampire and that she asked you to give her her soul back?" Her watcher questions with wonder in his voice. Buffy only nodded in response.

"Yep," Buffy said popping the p. "She had been to see Tony before I got there, and he freaked out on her. Told her he loved her, but all he could see when he looked at her was the possibility of her killing again. He told her what I did, and she was mad, but she loved him enough to want to be with him; so she asked if she got her soul too would he take her back. He told her yes. That's why she came to talk to me. She was a mess about it before I even bit her. I guess that's why it didn't take her as long to pull her head out of the madness. She was expecting it. That was just a little over two weeks ago. I've been bringing them blood from the butchers and books to help research what may be going on with me," Buffy finished.

"How extraordinary... a vampire who can love without a soul, or who at least thought she was in love," Giles said as he cleaned his lenses. Buffy simply snorted.

"I know everything you have been taught, even stuff Angel has said, says that no soul equals no love, but that's bull. I've seen it, and three other vampires with souls tell me that Angel is just trying to make himself look good because he was a REALLY bad guy without the soul. He's trying to give himself that extra dose of caring about people. He just wants me to see him as a different person than the Angelus from the history books... when in reality, he's the same, just cursed to care again," Buffy finished with a huff.

Her friends were silent. Willow had a hurt look on her face, and Xander just looked confused. Cordelia still looked bored. Giles on the other hand, seemed eerily calm while Buffy finished her rant.

"Why didn't you come to us for help Buffy?" Willow asked her friend.

"I guess I was afraid. I mean, it's weird, and I didn't know what would happen if the council found out about what I can do now. They aren't too happy with Angel running around. Now there are four more vampires with souls on top of Angel and gypsies didn't exactly curse them. The Slayer bit them," Buffy tried to reason with them," I was going to tell you guys soon. I just wanted to be able to come to you with some more information than what I have. I also wanted to make sure all my vampires were in their right minds. I didn't want you to judge them by the crazy stage they seem to go through first," Buffy begged them to understand. Giles let out a very parental sigh.

"I appreciate you wanting to be informed first, Buffy, but I hope you realize you can come to me with anything. If I think the council will cause a problem with something, I will not tell them. Believe me, there is already plenty I have not put in my reports to them. Who knows if there is a time limit to this, and you were going to end up walking into a trap one night. I would like to meet these three vampires you seem to have changed, under my conditions of course, just to check some things out. If what you say is true, then we have a LOT of research to do," Giles instructed. Buffy felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Giles was taking this really well, and her friends weren't freaking out too bad. She looked them over once more. Cordelia was still not really caring. Willow was looking more supportive than before, and Xander still looked confused beyond belief. He seemed to being trying to work things out in his head while staring at the table. Finally, he looked up and met Buffy's eyes.

"Wait, Buffy, what did you mean when you said just a second ago about four more vampires with a soul on top of Angel? I thought you only made three. Didn't you mean four including Angel?" Xander pried, and all the heads in the room snapped back to Buffy, who was looking sheepish.

"No, I meant four. You see, something kind of happened last night with Spike," Buffy slowly admitted, and she watched as all the jaws in the room hit the floor. Giles whipped his already clean glasses off his face and began to vigorously wipe them again anyway.

"Dear lord."  
-

Saturday morning came quickly for the Slayer. She spent the night before helping with research in the school library, and they hadn't been able to come up with anything more than Dalton had over the last two months, which was nothing. She thought about going to check up on things at the crypt but Jenna had met her outside of the school and told her that they had things under control and to just go home to get some sleep. She suggested that she stop by the next morning just after sunrise. She said that way if something went wrong she would have a quick exit to safety. She was confused by the vampire's worry, but she agreed to stop by.

Buffy woke up about an hour before the sun came up to get ready. She made sure her mom heard her leaving the house so that she would know she was leaving early, not sneaking out late. Still she left a note saying she was going to spend the day with Willow, making a quick call first to tell Willow the situation.

Surprisingly, Willow had gotten up and rushed to meet Buffy at the entrance to Restfield.

"Willow, are you sure you're okay with meeting them without Giles and Xander? I know the guys don't trust them, I would understand if you don't either," Buffy informed her friend. Willow just shook her head as they began the trek through the gravestones towards the crypts.

"You see this," Willow motions to her face "this is my resolve face. If you trust them, then I will give it a try Buffy. Not saying I'm not going to be all nervous girl, but I'm trying to be supportive over here. There has to be a reason you were protecting them. I'm trying to understand." Buffy's face lit up with happiness, overjoyed that she hadn't lost her best friend to her subterfuge.

"Thank you, Wills. You have no idea how much this actually means to me. I was so afraid you guys would hate me," she admitted.

"I could never hate you, Buffy. I'm a little hurt, but like I said, I'm trying to understand." Willow comforted her friend as they stopped in front of a large crypt with perfect timing. The sun was just coming up, and everything was starting to cast shadows.

"Well, this is it. Let me go in first, let them know you're here." Buffy instructed as she gave five quick knocks on the large door then opened it just enough to slip in. "I'll come get you in a minute," she said stepping inside and shuting the door to keep out any light.

Inside the crypt, Buffy noticed Dalton and Jenna reading books on opposite sides of the table. They looked up when she closed the door. Buffy looked around for Tony or even Spike but they weren't in to upper level, Jenna noticed her searching for something and put two and two together.

"They're downstairs. I'm not gonna lie, Buffy. Spike is NOT doin good. He's actually what I would call bat shit crazy. That's why I said to wait until sun up. This way if he goes towards the violent side, you have a quick out," Jenna updated closing the book she had open and setting it on the stack with the rest of the books. Dalton did the same and stood up.

"He's even worse than I was. I think it may be because he's older. He's been a vampire for 117 years from what I understand. That's a lot of guilt to lay on him all at once," he explained. Jenna looked over to the door.

"Who's with you?" She asked. Buffy wrung her hands nervously.

"Willow wants to meet all of you. I told her to give me a second to let you know. Do you think its safe for her here? Have you guys eaten today?" Buffy put her hand on the door to the outside, ready to either let Willow in or ask her to come back later. Tony chose that time to climb up from the lower level. He stood up straight and smiled welcoming their Slayer.

"We finished off the last of what you brought then Jenna used some of the money she made being a hostess at Brackens to get us some more last night. He won't eat yet though, and I'd say it's safe. He's passed out, curled up in the corner downstairs cavern right now," Tony answered for the other two. Buffy nodded then opened the door, motioning outside for Willow to step in. When the door closed behind the red head, she looked around but stopped when she saw Jenna.

"You're the one from the other night. The one that gave Buffy that paper she dropped," Willow observed. Jenna just smiled.

"I was playing secret agent. I was just getting a message to the Slayer about the whole Spike situation," Jenna admitted, and Willow let out a nervous laugh.

"Well it worked...we had no idea. That explains Buffy's crazy laugh at us saying we were glad you weren't vamp food," she joked and looked to her friend. Buffy bit her lip and shrugged an apology.

"You noticed the crazy laugh, huh? Anyway, Willow, this is Jenna, Dalton, and Tony. Guys, Willow." Buffy pointed to each of them in turn as she named them off, and they each gave the newcomer a wave. Willow waved back at all of them.

"Happy to meet you finally, Willow. Buffy talks about you and Xander all the time. I almost feel as if I know you already," Dalton said to welcome Willow. The red head blushed.

"Thank you. Its nice to meet you guys too. Buffy hasn't said much about you all, but I guess she had her reasons. So, wasn't there supposed to be one more?" Willow looked around as she noticed the missing vampire. Dalton coughed apprehensively, and Tony frowned.

"He's not really ready to socialize yet. The soul's still settling in," Dalton offered in way of explanation.

"Like I just told Buffy," Jenna cut in, "He's still in the bat shit crazy stage. No telling what he might do. We've had to stop him at least five times from trying to dust himself."

"Jenna!" Tony scolded. She gave a shrug, seeming to dare him to say anything different. "He's calmed down enough now. He's finally getting some sleep. Probably not very restful, but sleep all the same," he added on as he gave his mate a sideways glare. Jenna remained unfazed.

"Oh, well, that's good then, I guess. Not the crazy part, you know, the sleep part," Willow stuttered out nervously. She turned to look at Buffy to see her friend staring at the hole behind Tony with her features down cast with worry and guilt. Tony noticed also and tilted his head to take attract her attention.

"He'll be fine, my lady. He just needs time. It may take longer than any of us, but I've been the one sitting with him the most, and I honestly think he has it in him," Tony tried to alleviate some of her guilt.

"I'm not just worried about that. You guys told me that even as vampires went, you all weren't the worst. You said that you were the kind that tried to lay low and stay off the radar, not the big evil kind of people. Spike is... he's one of the worst even according you. I looked him up yesterday when I was supposed to be researching my thing, and I saw some really bad stuff," Buffy admitted, and Willow just rolled her eyes at that last part. "Learned worse things about Angel, though," Buffy added as an after thought. Dalton cleared his throat.

"About that. I wouldn't trust all those books and take the words as gospel. You have to realize some of the things written in those books could have been hearsay or rumor. There is no way for it to all be 100% accurate, even if the subjects of the material wrote it themselves." He paused to look at the young woman, who seemed to be asking where he was going with this. He held her gaze as he continued, "That, and I met him remember. I will admit he was terrifying during some of it, but I must also confess he was gentle as any person I have ever seen when he was caring for Drusilla. He has it in him, and I could see that. We just have to hope when he pulls himself out of this that he can see it too." Buffy took a relieved sounding breath. Suddenly, Jenna took a step towards the two humans to stand in front of Buffy. Willow couldn't help but flinch a little when she got close but looked apologetic when Jenna gave her a glance and stayed put. Jenna placed her hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"There is a chance that it will all work out, but don't forget that it's still his choice once he's in his right mind whether or not he wants to meet the sunrise. We will help him deal, but we won't take that choice from him. Don't feel bad about it. You have saved the lives of everyone he would have killed from this point on no matter what he decides." Jenna gave Buffy's shoulder a squeeze before letting go and watching the emotions play out over the Slayer's face. She could only imagine what the young woman was thinking.

Buffy was worried. She knew she couldn't save everyone, but the agony in the master vampire's scream as he regained his soul was haunting. In bed at night when the house is quiet, she swore she could hear him still. She saved people; that was her calling...but maybe it's been updated to saving some of the undead too. Buffy decided she wasn't going to even think about giving up yet.

"I hear what you're trying to say, but I can't think that way. I have to be all in. It's just the way I am," Buffy declared. Willow nodded her head in approval and smiled at her friend. "So why don't we all sit down and let Willow get to know you guys. I think it would be a major help to have her in your corner when Giles, Ms. Calendar, Xander, and Cordy finally meet you 'under their conditions'" Buffy air quoted. The three vampires understood, choosing not to ask about what that could mean.

"What about Angel? When are you going to tell him?" Willow asked when she realized Buffy had left him out of the list. That stopped Buffy in her tracks. She completely forgot about the original member of the soul club. It hit her then exactly how little she had been including Angel in her planning even though he was probably going to want to play a big part in helping her new nest adjust in the future. It seeme like the infatuation she had with the mysterious man was waning the more she learned about his past and the more she got to see how other vampires dealt with the burden of a soul This left her pushing him further and further down her list of people who mattered most to her.

"Ill tell him after I get Giles to come around completely, maybe even after we figure out everything. If I tell him now, I have a feeling he'll try and take over things here. This is going to sound weird, Wills, but stay with me here. These are MY vampires, my nest, my new family. Angel stays the hell away from them. I don't need them to pick up his ability to brood 24/7." Buffy frowned and crossed her arms, seemingly putting her foot down on that situation. Willow was surprised to hear some of the things Buffy admitted to but seeing the seriousness in the Slayer's face stopped her from saying anything against it. The red head just nodded saying she understood and sat down on the couch. Jenna and Tony sat down on the love seat, and Dalton drug a chair from the table over between the love seat and couch leaving Buffy to take the seat next to Willow.

"So, who wants to play 20 questions? That's a good game to get to know people right?" Buffy asked everyone. She heard everyone let out a sigh, but they all agreed anyway. 


	6. Chapter 6

I wish I did but I don't Own Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Joss Whedon does.

He could hear them. There were people talking above him, and they were laughing at something. He knew he should be sleeping but every time he closed his eyes all he could see was an endless sea of faces staring back at him, so he just stayed silently crouched in his corner. They were all screaming at him, calling him a murderer and a monster. No matter how hard he covered his ears, he could hear them. He knew they were right. He had always known what he was...it was just that until he had felt that fire burning in his dead veins not even two days ago he couldn't bring himself to care.

It wasn't always like that though. Back when he was first turned he cared about things more. He cared about getting justice for the wrongs done to him in life, but he was so high on his newly obtained power and sense of freedom that he pushed aside any guilt preventing it from putting down any bloody roots. He relished his new life. The violence was intoxicating, the rush was addicting, and he had felt alive for the first time. The more time that passed, that little voice that told him he was doing something unspeakable, shrank to practically nothing. Added to the loss of his mother, his new family, and the _lessons_ they forced on him, whatever bit of humanity that was left was shoved into a little, locked box in the corner of his being. The only thing that survived was his love for his sire. His devotion to her was always unwavering even, when she pushed him away calling out what should have been his name on her lips.

But now, that little, locked box had been shattered, and there was no way to silence that voice any longer. It screamed at him at a deafening volume, making him want to curl up and just let himself turn to dust. He felt alone, and he felt dirty. Spike lifted his hands and looked at them as he listened to the muffled voices drone on. All he could see was blood, their blood... they were covered in blood and none of it is his own. He let tears that had spent over one hundred years locked away track down his face as he tried to wipe the blood away with the dirt from the floor.

"Dirty, filthy, won't come off. Never gonna be clean," he mumbled while starting to rub harder, causing the skin from his hand to scrap off and leave behind his own real blood. It mixed with the phantoms' already covering his hands. He laughed in crazed amusement at the sight of it. "Can't fix it. Not enough stitches for everyone," he continued to mumble when he heard the voices from upstairs stop and footsteps come his way. There was a set of thuds, like two people jumping down followed by a loud feminine gasp. Spike ignored the commotion as he continued to rub off the imagined blood of his victims.

Spike stopped when a hand grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to face the source of all the noise. A set of small, seemingly delicate hands, took hold of his own tainted bleeding ones and stopped him from causing any more harm to himself. He looked up for a moment into a pair of pained emerald eyes.

'Beautiful,'he mused, but it was too much for him to handle. He averted his gaze and tried to take his hands back. The hands were deceptively strong though, and refused to let go.

"Oh god what have you done?" the owner of the hands and eyes whispered in a horrified yet angelic voice. He glanced back up at her but quickly brought his eyes back down again as soon as he saw that she was staring at his bare chest. She took one hand and put it on his chest, on the gouges and scratches he scored onto himself. The contact was too gentle. He didn't deserve it. Spike stood up from his crouch suddenly, breaking contact with her, and turned to face the corner again, placing his head on the wall, leaning into it and wrapping his arms around himself.

"I tried to cut it out... it won't come." he told her with a sob. He could hear the heart beat of the woman speed up and her breath increase. He knew she had started crying after that because her tears smelled so much different than his own.

"I need to go and get something to take care of those wounds. I know you guys can't get infections, but that has to be painful," she told the other person who had come down with her.

"I think that was the point, my lady, but if you want I can help you with him when you get back. He hasn't been violent towards anyone but himself, yet. Still, he's just as powerful as he was, and right now he's unpredictable. I'd feel more comfortable if I helped." The voice that spoke this time was the voice of the man that has been with him throughout most of his time here. Spike turned to look at him, but instead, got a much better look at Buffy. Even in the dim light of the lanterns down here, her blond hair shone. Spike covered his face and slid down the wall to crouch with his back against it.

"It's the sunshine. She was right. I'm all burned up... all turned to ash now," He spieled into his hands. It was muffled, but the other two in the room still heard him clear as day.

"I'll be back," she spoke softly with a voice laden with guilt. Spike heard her climb back up the ladder a moment later. He looked up from his hands when he heard voices up top again and saw Tony walking towards him. He stopped and sat down about four feet in front of him, legs crossed, looking at the cracked vampire. Spike peered up towards the hole in the ceiling, as if searching for something then looked back at the floor.

"The sunshine went away, too unclean for the sun to shine on. I have to rot in the dark," he murmured to the air. Tony bent down so that his face was in Spike's line of sight and caught his eye.

"She'll be back... nothing can put the sun out that easy. You'll see. She'll be back, and she'll bring the warmth with her," Tony tried to calm the crazed man. Spike just shook his head vehemently.

"So cold, but it's what I deserve." He put his hands on either side of his head, tangling his fingers into his loose, dirty curls. "It's what they demand."

"Those voices you're hearing, they're not real. You need to stop listening to them," Tony tried to convince him. Spike seemed to shrink into his self more at the suggestion.

"But they're so many, and they're so loud."

The trip to the school library and back for medical supplies along with a stop at a mini mart for a gallon of water didn't take nearly as long as Buffy had thought. She was glad though because she was worried about Willow. Her friend had insisted that she stay there with the souled vampires as a show of support for the Slayer's new friends. After hearing Buffy defend them, she realized how important their acceptance really was, so she pushed down her fear and offered to stay back and get to know them a little more while Buffy ran out for supplies. Jenna told her she didn't have to, and that she could understand if she didn't trust them, yet, but Willow pulled out her resolve face for the second time that day and promptly introduced it to the female vamp. Buffy didn't say it then, but she was more grateful for Willow's support than she let on.

When Buffy got back she was met with a very welcome scene. Dalton, Willow, and Jenna were all sitting at the table playing UNO and laughing at Dalton getting a draw 4. The three saw her when she came in and immediately put the game on hold. They went to get up but Buffy, carrying the gallon of water with the pack full of first aid supplies, held up a hand to stop them.

"No, it's fine. Keep playing. I'm glad you're all getting along. I'll just bring this down there and get Spike patched up. Be back in a bit," Buffy directed them. Jenna sat back down, but Willow and Dalton stayed standing.

"Buffy, I want to help. I know that you're going to say it's not my problem, but I need to understand. That way I can help with Xander and Giles later," Willow informed Buffy of her intent as she grabbed the water out of her friend's hands. Buffy was shocked for a moment and began to tell Willow no, and how dangerous it was, when Dalton spoke up.

"We talked about it when you were out, and I believe if I come down and stay with Willow everything will be fine. Spike hasn't moved from that corner since you left and hasn't feed or really slept recently so he isn't at full strength. Plus, that was the roughest I've seen one of us take the soul, and I think it will be a while before he's up to full strength again," he cut in before Buffy could object. Buffy quickly realized she was out numbered. She looked Willow straight in the eyes and pulled on her Generals hat.

"Okay, but you stay behind me and beside Dalton or Tony the whole time. At first sign of trouble, you fly up that ladder. You hear me, Willow Rosenberg?" Buffy commanded her completely human friend. Willow smiled and agreed. At that, Buffy headed over to the opening and slid down the ladder, followed moments later by Dalton and Willow. Spike was exactly how she left him, sitting in the corner, crouched down with his hands woven into his hair doing his best not to look at anyone. Tony was seated on the ground a few feet in front of him. He turned his head when Buffy started to walk over.  
"He's the same. Ill help you get him over to the cot," he gestured towards the ladder, "That one's mine, and I sleep with Jenna on the pull out anyway," Tony offered as he very slowly rose up. He crouched down and planted one foot on the ground, weaving the other leg under Spike so Tony could easily stand up with the patient. He leaned forward and reached out slowly towards Spike as the other three stood in the middle of the room, watching worriedly. When Tony was about to make contact, Spike flinched away without a word, but Tony just moved to accommodate him until he had one hand on Spike's bent elbow and the other on his shoulder. He didn't flinch again, but froze instead, not one muscle even twitching. Tony pulled gently up on his arm as he rose to lead Spike to stand up with him. After a tense second where Spike stayed frozen he began to straighten out slowly letting his arms fall down to his sides, still keeping his eyes to the floor.

"Okay man, lets get you over to the bed, then we can get you cleaned up a little. Looks like you got visitors, and we don't want ya scarin' away the pretty red head, now do we?" Tony talked softly to the quiet vampire as they began the short walk to the cot, passing the others on the way. Willow was unmoving. She remembered the quick glimpse she had of the cocky master vampire just the other night at their school. This man was completely different. Withdrawn and almost catatonic, he seemed like a shadow of the vampire that was described to her by the books she had spent so much time studying.

When Tony managed to get Spike seated on the cot, Buffy took the water from Willow and went to kneel in front of her patient. Willow stayed beside Dalton in the middle of the room, slightly smaller than most classrooms. The lighting was barely good enough for her to see from where she was, though. That's why when Buffy put down the pack and had Tony take Spike's button up shirt the rest of the way off she lets out a loud, horrified gasp that echoed through out the small space. Her hands shot up to cover her mouth. Buffy knew exactly why her friend had made that noise. She had almost mimicked it earlier. The cuts and gouges on Spike's chest were angry, bloody and, obviously self-inflicted. She probably should have warned Willow, but she honestly needed the girl to understand what these people went through, what she made them go through, after she put their souls back.

"Did he do that to himself?" Willow asked with a small voice as she stepped a little closer, unsure if it just looked worse than it actually is. The closer she got the worse it was, though. She could see now the state of his hands and it appeared as if he had a head wound above his face right next to his hair line, signaling a blow to the head. Buffy turned to see her looking at him but then quickly turned back to take Spike's hands; he didn't flinch way from her this time.

"Yeah, he did all this to himself. He told me earlier when I first saw it that he tried to cut it out," she said informing Willow.

"His heart?" Willow barely whispered. Buffy shook her head no as she reached for a rag out of the pack. She wet it with some water before starting to wipe his hands clean.

"His soul... he tried to cut his soul out. This is not easy for them by a long shot, Wills, and none of them are faking it. They have all gone through something similar after I do what I do. Spike is the worst by far, though. I think it may be because he's older. Tony is the next oldest, and he's only been a vamp for 3 years. He wasn't nearly this bad," Buffy explained while she carefully continued to clean up his hands. She has to rinse the rag a little after each hand but it's not as bad as she had orginially thought. With all the dirt off, she noticed that his vampire healing was already kicking in with the smaller scrapes.

"Yeah, I don't remember a lot of those first day or two, but I do remember that I wanted to suffer. I felt like I didn't have a choice. I'm not saying I got over it though, just that I've come to a place where I can handle my demons, literally. Having Dalton, Jenna, and Buffy definitely helped. You guys anchor me. I can tell you the others feel the same. Whatever or whomever gave you this new trick knew what they were doing. I can feel that link we were talking about, and it keeps me in the now, keeps the voices quiet. Took a few days to be able to find it through all the noise, though. Give him time, he'll find it too. He's probably got a lot more noise to sift through to get to it," Tony informed the two humans in the room. Buffy looked thoughtful but kept her thoughts to herself as she put the rag on top of the gallon moving for the bandages.

She took extra care as she gentlely wrapped his hands and fingers in gauze. Spike watched her movements silently, but put up no resistance. He seemed to be much calmer than the last time she saw him. It only took Buffy a few minutes to finish up and rinse the rag out again. She glanced back at Willow and Dalton to check on her friends. Willow seemed to be mesmerized by the wounds on Spike's chest. Her face showed that she was horrified by them, but trying her best to be mature about it. She noticed Buffy looking at her causing her frown to only deepen.

"I feel like a looky loo. I know I said I wanted to come, but I'm starting to feel like the 5th wheel here. I think I'll go wait upstairs for you guys to be done," she paused as Buffy nodded her agreement. "But I think I needed to see this, I understand a little better now Buffy, why you were being so protective." She shot her friend a weak smile before making a move toward the ladder with Dalton on her heels. Buffy watched her climb through the hole then turned back to Spike.

"I'm going to clean off your chest now. I need you to sit up straighter, please." She tried to direct him. At first, he seemed to ignore her, but Buffy waited patiently, just holding his hands, grounding him. After a minute, he nodded, and sat up shoulders were pressed back rigidly against the wall, while he looked up at the ceiling away from Buffy and Tony. Buffy set to work on cleaning the blood and dirt from his mangled chest. She went through most of the gallon of water, before she was done and satisfied it would heal fine. "Can you hold your arms up so I can wrap you up?" she asked.

He didn't answer, but he did hold his arms out to the side, still not making eye contat with watched the whole time, marveling at how easily Buffy had him cooperating.

"Spike," Buffy called as she put the last piece of tape on, finishing her job, "I'm done with the bandages. You can put your arms back down now." He slowly lowered his arms but made no other movement. Buffy stayed crouched in front of him and placed a hand on his knee. His head snapped around to stare at her touch.

"Can you not do that again, please? Don't hurt yourself anymore.. If you feel like you need to hurt yourself, tell one of us first, and we'll help you." His deep blue eyes bore into hers; his gaze was so raw that she felt naked. She could tell he was searching her for answers, trying to ask questions without words.

"Why?" He finally spoke.. Buffy placed her other hand on his knee

"Because we don't want you to hurt yourself anymore...we want to help you," Tony answered for her from his place against the wall at the foot of the cot. Spike shook his head slowly.

"No. Why did this happen? What happened? All the screaming, all the faces, where did they come from? I know they've always been there, but I couldn't hear them before. Now though, I can see them all, and I feel their pain. I want it to stop, not for me, for them. I don't want them to be in pain anymore, but I'm the one who caused it because I'm a monster. I murdered them. I wanted them to hurt, I loved that they hurt. But now it's different... I don't know why." He pleaded with Buffy to help him understand. Buffy felt tears escape her eyes and run down her face.

"I'm sorry I did this to you. I gave you your soul back, Spike. Against your will, I forced a conscious on you, and I hope you can forgive me one day. Please try and understand though, I was trying to do a good thing," Buffy tried to explain. Spike's eyes seemed to focus on something far away after she finished.

"The sunshine cries for me when she should be crying for all the ones I hurt," Spike mumbled as he sat back on the cot. His body began to turn inward curling up into a ball and laying down facing the wall. He went still and silent after that, and Buffy realized he had gone away again. She stood up after gathering all the first aid supplies and stuffing them back in their case.

"You really think he'll be okay, Tony?" She questioned as she went to climb up the ladder. Tony took a seat in the spot Buffy had just vacated and leaned against the cot, facing the ladder. He fidgeted a bit until he got comfortable, ready to tuck in for a long watch.

"Honestly, my lady, I don't think any of us can ever be 'OKAY' again, but we have each other, so things can only get better with time."


	7. Chapter 7

For two more days, Spike lay on the cot, not moving, just occasionally talking to the wall before Dalton woke up one night to find him gone. Tony and Jenna had spent the day away in a house they had found and had begun to rent with the help of Jennas' new boss, a demon named Clem. They were getting it ready to move into. Dalton had fallen asleep upstairs on the love seat after reading up on some obscure prophecies that Giles had sent to him to help translate. He awoke startled at the sound of Buffy slamming the crypt door. Dalton was initially puzzled. She kept asking why the door was left wide open. Dalton gave her a blank look before suspicion rang in his brain, and he rushed to the lower level, only to find Spike gone.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Buffy freaked as Dalton rung his hands while telling her the news. "Was he any better than yesterday?"

"He was the same. The last thing I heard him talking about was saving the princess. It was just more ramblings. He was still calm though," Dalton assured her as she started pacing.

"Oh god, what if he walked out into the sunlight and dusted himself? What if he's wandering around still acting like a pod person? This is bad Dalton. We have to find him!" Buffy exclaimed as she started to head out the door and into the night in search of their missing vampire. She stopped though, when she saw the look on Dalton's face, as if he'd just worked something out. "What? Did you remember something?"

"I think I know where he is," Dalton admitted.

"What? Where?" she asked.

"I think he may have gone back to the factory. He called Drusilla his princess when I was there, and she was really unwell. If I remember correctly, the whole reason he came to Sunnydale was to cure her. I told you he loved her... maybe he's come out of it enough to start worrying about her again, and he's trying to get back to her," Dalton theorized, Buffy could see how that was the most likely situation.

"You're probably right, but didn't you say she basically kicked him out the night he attacked he school? You said she saw that I was supposed to return his soul, that she was going to lose him," she stated, trying to clarify.

"Yes, but he's not thinking straight. And if he really loves her, he'll worry about her no matter what she says to him. She literally cut gouges out of his face for trying to kiss her, and he still helped her up and into bed," he explained. Buffy worried her bottom lip with her teeth, trying to make up a plan. After a minute, she pulled her features into a more determined look.

"Okay, we go get Tony and Jenna, then the four of us will gear up and head out to the factory. We already took care of most of the vamps there, so we should be able to handle the ones that are left. Really, I should have done this already. We go in, grab Spike, dust any vamps that try to get in our way. Try not to dust Drusilla though, it would hurt Spike too much with the way he is right now," Buffy directed then turned on her heel and headed directly out the door, not wanting to waste another second. Dalton nodded in acceptance and began heading out right behind the Slayer, taking only a second to grab the stake he remembered leaving by his books. Curiously, it was gone.

Several hours earlier...

Spike had woken up after the first real sleep he had gotten in days and listened for the usual sound of people walking around or talking upstairs. For once though, it was silent. He had a moment of panic thinking they had all left him, but he tampered it down and sat up. He was feeling more himself then he had in what seemed like forever thanks to the sleep. Even so, it just made things clear enough for him to realize that he was a bit insane at the moment. He took a second to laugh at that, thinking that crazy people aren't supposed to know that they're crazy. He instantly thought of Dru. She defiantly knew that she was a few cards short of a full deck, but she just never seemed to care. Her world was filled with dolls in pretty dresses, tea parties and pain. Spike's brand of crazy seemed to be more anguish than anything. Thinking about Drusilla though, forced him to focus. He remembered that she needed him, and his cracked mind pushed everything else to the side and latched onto that fact. 'Get to Drusilla,' his thoughts chanted as he sat up slowly and began the tasks it would take to get ready to leave.

He was weakened from hunger, but it wasn't anything so debilitating that he hadn't had to deal with it before. The hardest task was locating his duster and boots, which they had taken off of him before he had even woken up that first night. During the search, he came across Dalton's sleeping form but decided to ignore him seeing as it wasn't vital to his current mission. He eventually found his stuff stashed in an empty sarcophagus along with some of their cloths. Spike didn't bother with another shirt; he was covered enough with the bandages and his coat. As an after thought, he grabbed a wooden stake that he noticed laying on the table in the middle of the room amongst a pile of books and scrolls.

Stuffing the stake in his duster pocket, he opened the front door of the crypt. He felt a sudden a rush to get to Drusilla now that he was geared up, only to be met with a bright ray of sunlight right in his face. He didn't yell, but he did shrink back in a panic covering himself with his arms. After a few seconds of terror, he realized he wasn't burning. Cautiously, he crept toward the patch of light still bleeding in and slowly placed his hand in it. Minutes passed as he silently watched, entranced as the light played across his skin without the normal smoke and fire that usually accompanied such actions. He spent another few minutes moving at a snails pace, putting himself fully into the light. He looked around himself for the first time in almost one hundred and twenty years at the world in the light of day. Everything was pretty much the same, but different at the same time. He took another moment to appreciate it all before the image of Drusilla flooded back into his head. Shaking himself from his momentary distraction, he placed his hands in his duster pockets, gathering it around his body like a shield. He then took one last long look around the world in the daytime before he focused on a path ahead of him and began his sunlit journey towards the factory.

He found his way fairly easy, avoiding crowed places and main roads. He arrived about an hour before sunset and snuck his way inside. The place was exactly the way he left it save for the number of sleeping vampires was severely diminished from the attack on the school. He immediately made his way straight to the room he and Drusilla had shared.

What he found when he got there set his demon roaring.

Drusilla had been shackled to the bed and was in worse condition than when they first got to the states. Her skin was even more molted with bruises, and her hair was matted and dirty. Her dress was ripped and tattered and Spike could smell sex all over her. He rushed over to her and immediately broke the chains off. They were no match for him, but Dru in her state, was helpless. When he carefully sat her up, her eyes fluttered open as she woke up and met his eyes.

"Sweet William, why have you come back?" She asked him in a raspy voice. Spike ran his hand over her hair, smoothing out the mess as he took a minute to force a calm voice to answer. He held her close to him, rocking slightly and cleared his throat.

"I always come back, need to take care of you, Princess. What did they do to you?" he questioned her. Dru giggled weakly at his question.

"The pixies scared them, but they dare not kill me, or else I won't be able to whisper secrets for them. So they decided to have a party. I am enjoying it ever so much. I just miss the food. Did you bring your princess any yummy treats?" she asked him from her position against his chest. Spike choked back a sob at her explanation. Of course Dru would think this was fun. This was just like something Angelus would find fun.

"Sorry, Dru, I don't have anything, but I can get you something. Okay, Baby? Just wait here," he told her as he laid her back down on the bed, smoothing out the sheets and making her comfortable. He stood up and took a deep inhale, memorizing the smell of the ones who have been in here the most. Then he did something he hadn't done in days, something that he had been avoiding at all costs. He brought forth his demon and let it take the driver's seat. He felt himself shift into his demon visage and stalked out of the room on the hunt for the perpetrators.

He came to the main room less than a minute later where there were eight vampires sleeping around on various pieces of furniture. Without even pausing or breaking stride, he pulled the stake from his duster pocket and plunged it into the heart of the first vampire he came to, culprit number one. The stake was already in his heart as his eyes shot open, and he let out one choking gasp of surprise before he turned to dust. At the sound of the now dusted vampire, the other seven woke up suddenly alert and searching the room in confusion. It took them a moment to notice Spike, standing over a pile of dust with the wooden symbol of their death in his hand. When they did though, they all rushed him at once. Even malnourished, slightly insane, and running on almost no rest the other vampires fell swiftly at his feet. His actions were fueled by rage and pain as he swirled around with fists and fangs, knocking back his opponents with practiced precision. He played with them a little to draw out their suffering, but whenever it looked like one was about to run, he used the stake to end them before they could get away.

When he finally stopped his one-man massacre, there was only one vampire left, barely conscious and bleeding on the floor. He grabbed him by the hair and drug him all the way back through the halls and down the stairs to the room where Drusilla was waiting. He took the vampire and threw him onto the floor by the bed and placed his boot on his head.

"Is this the one that played with you, Baby?" he questioned the ailing vampiress, his voice dripping with malice. Dru peeked over the side of the bed and took a breath to smell him then looked back to Spike.

"Oh yes, and such lovely games we played. Almost like the games daddy would play with me before he ate that nasty little gypsy girl," she said airily, with a sound of longing. Spike was seething and could feel his demon screaming at him. His soul, however, stayed strangely silent for the first time in days.

"Good, because he volunteered to be your brekke," Spike crooned then reached down to grab the vampire and hauled him up onto the bed where a hungry Drusilla awaited. Spike held the struggling vampire still as Drusilla tore into his jugular and devoured all the stolen blood in his body. The struggling of the vampire stopped after several minutes of futile effort. Spike pulled his still form off of the bed and stabbed the stake through his un-beating heart, creating another pile of dust.

"You just stay there and get some kip. I'll be right back, just got one more person to pay a visit to," Spike whispered to the now sated woman before turning around and leaving her once more. He found the last person he was looking for in the furthest room of the factory by the side exit, talking to another vampire about what, Spike didn't care. He knew The Anointed One wasn't directly involved with what went on in the room while he was gone, but Spike still held him responsible. He rushed in and skirted around the unknown vampire and grabbed The Anointed by the collar. He turned to look at the one he skipped as he held the struggling vamp up off the floor.

"I don't smell you anywhere else in this sodden place, so I'm gonna give you a choice. Leave on your own now or come with us for a little stroll outside," Spike gave him an ultimatum without a trace of humor. The short, well dresses, dark skinned vampire raised an eyebrow at the threat.

"Put me down, Spike! The others will come and tear you apart," the immortal childe wailed. Spike sneered at him, while he cocked his head to the side and chuckled.

"Little hard to tear me apart when they're all dust mate. Lets go for a walk then, shall we?" Spike slung the struggling child over his shoulder and made his way over to the side door. The visiting vampire smiled in amusement as the master vampire seemingly attempted to take The Anointed One into the sun and take himself out with him in the process. So he watched on with amusement as Spike kicked opened the double doors and let the light of the setting sun stream in.. The immortal child screamed in outraged agony while he burst into flames. Spike only tossed him out even further into the light at the noise, watching him turn to dust before his body could even make it to the ground.

The unknown, onlooking vampire expected to be able to report back to his boss about the death of the master vampire and all the whole of the Arulian line along with him. However, his smile was quickly wiped off his face, and he stood frozen in shock while he watched Spike standing there, unharmed, bathed in light from the setting sun. After a tense few seconds, William the Bloody turned to him with an eerily blank look on his face.

"Waitin' on your decision mate, still enough sunlight left for option number two." 


	8. Chapter 8

It took an hour after leaving the crypt to get Tony and Jenna to gear up and then make it to the factory. They approached the factory cautiously, sticking to shadows and out of direct line of sight from any entrance or window when possible. Buffy, glad she had gone with blue jeans due to the chill in the air, was focusing on reaching out with her senses trying to distinguish the vamps outside from the vamps inside. For their part, her three companions were also trying to sense enemies with their own abilities. When they got right up against the side of the building, Buffy stopped and turned to them.

"I can only feel two vamps inside, and I'm pretty sure that one of them is Spike." She whispered as the other three paused to listen. Buffy clutched her stake a little tighter then turned back around taking the last three steps towards the side door that was standing wide open. Bracing herself for a confrontation and centering her focus, she stepped around the side of the building entering through the door. The dust trail, which started at the door and led outside did not go unnoticed by any of them as they snuck further into the abandoned factory. They reached what Dalton remembered as the main living area and could plainly see several more piles of dust and evidence of a struggle. Broken furniture, flipped couches, and blood splatter were evident throughout the room.

"Wow, looks like someone beat us here," Jenna said to Tony as they spread out to look around the room. Tony picked up a chair and pushed it aside to a clear their path.

"I'd say so, maybe several someones. There are at least seven dust piles here not counting the one we passed on the way in. Maybe a turf war? Another nest found out that they were down more than two-dozen and decided to make their mark? Tony provided as a possible explanation. Buffy opened her mouth to reply, but Dalton held up his hand to silence her.

"Do you hear that?" Dalton questioned the others. He then proceeded to close his eyes and concentrate before motioning them to follow him down a side hall. As they went deeper into the factory they stopped at a doorway with a staircase leading down. A woman could be heard singing softly from the darkness. Dalton stopped at the top of the staircase and turned to face them. "That's Drusilla singing," he stated beginning the decent. All four of them headed down the stairs listening to the sound of Drusilla's voice grow steadily louder. They reached the bottom and came to a door leading into a large bedroom. On the bed in the center of the room, Drusilla was leaning back against the head board as she looked down at a soundly sleeping bleach blond vampire. Spike's head rested in her lap as she ran her hands through his loose curls. She stopped singing when she sensed them and looked up to greet them with a finger held to her lips.

"Shhhh you mustn't wake the baby. He's been terribly ill and has to rest now. He needed his mummy so he went for a stroll and stomped on all the little flowers in a temper tantrum, ended the party early and got no cake," the unstable vampiress sing-songed. They all stood frozen for a few moments while they watched her resume running both her hands through his hair, silently this time. Buffy was the first one to move towards the bed and break the silence.

"Drusilla, my name is Buffy. Do you understand what's going on here?" she asked, stopping at the side of the bed to put herself within reach of Spike if she just leaned forward. Drusilla looked at Buffy and tilted her head to the side studying her.

"The pixies told me everything long ago. They told me that you were coming to take my dark knight away from me one day to fight for the sunshine. I was very cross with you for stealing him and making him whole again, but the stars were weeping in joy so I have decided that all my tears will be happy ones too," Drusilla pouted then continued. "Poor Spike just doesn't want to listen when I tell him he doesn't belong to the dark anymore. I've told him and told him, but he has cotton in his ears. I may have to rip them off so the noise can go straight into his skull." Drusilla tensed then made her hands into claws as if she was about to do exactly what she said. Buffy dropped the stake and threw her hands out quickly grabbing both of her wrists in order to stop her. She didn't struggle; she just looked back up at Buffy with an expression of pure sorrow. "He can't be your yin if he keeps hold of mummy's' apron strings. Have to push the little birdie from the nest so he will fly or it will shrivel up and starve." Buffy tried to follow her ramblings but was to focused on making sure that the batty vamp didn't hurt Spike.

"Drusilla, we want to bring Spike somewhere safe until he gets better, somewhere we can help him. It's not safe here," Buffy stated but paused to think of what to say next. She looked from the sleeping vampire to the wrist she still held in her hand. She suddenly came to a conclusion and just hoped that her three companions would agree with her. "It's not safe for you here either. Why don't you let us take you and Spike with us to get you both better. That way he will stop going for strolls and stay safe. Will that be okay?" Drusilla relaxed and smiled brightly.

"I am already packed. Miss Edith was eager to leave. this place smells like deceit and black licorice, and she prefers other candies." Drusilla turned her head to look at the corner of her room. Buffy looked up to follow her line of sight and saw a complete eight piece set of upscale matching luggage, all packed and ready to go. She couldn't help it; she was so caught off guard by the whole situation that she let out a loud laugh, causing Spike to jerk awake suddenly and bolt upright, knocking Buffy back a step. He looked around frantic for a moment taking in the scene around him. His eyes stopped when he saw Buffy standing by the bed with the other three standing closer to the door.

"Oh, it's just you. Well, toddle off. We don't need any more phonebooks. I can take care of her with out calling her daddy," Spike announced groggily, clearly still in need of much more sleep. Drusilla reached out and patted Spike on the head like a child.

"It's time to leave sweet William. Why don't you hand me Miss Edith and help them with mummy's bags. We have to go soon or we'll be late for our reservation," she instructed him. He nodded his head once as if to say he understood then got up from the bed and headed over to the dresser against the wall where there were at least six different dolls all lined up. Dalton noted that he grabbed the same one Drusilla had had with her that first night then headed over to her and handed it to her. Spike looked around after that until he spotted the luggage then headed over to grab three of the bags. Buffy, still amused by the whole situation, turned and looked at the three smiling vampires. Tony, catching Buffy's glance, decided to move towards the corner of the room and grab three bags himself.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's blow this popsicle stand." He addressed the rest of them with a large grin when no one else seemed to move. That seemed to break the spell and Dalton and Jenna moved to grab the last two cases while Buffy moved back towards Drusilla.

"Are you okay to walk or do you need some help?" Buffy asked her as Drusilla scooted over and placed her feet on the floor. Instead of answering, the weakened vampiress met Buffy's gaze and reached the hand that was not holding on to her doll to her as if to ask for help up. Buffy took her hand then placed her other hand on her elbow and helped her to her feet. Once she seemed steady, Buffy looked over to the group waiting in the corner. Spike looked glassy-eyed and out of it, almost like he was sleepwalking. The others looked as if they were waiting on orders.

"Is the house ready or should we head back to the crypt?" she asked, looking mainly at Tony and Jenna. The mates looked at each other then seemed to communicate silently for a second before they both nodded simultaneously.

"We have it sun proofed but the furniture is sparse. The bedrooms all have beds that came with the house, but that's it. We can head there to drop them off then call Clem, and he can help us move everything from the crypt to the house before the night is over. He's good people, loves to help," Jenna answered for the both of them. Buffy stood up straighter and braced Drusilla against her.

"Lets do what the man said then and blow this popsicle stand," she declared as she began to guide Drusilla towards the door and out into the night.  



	9. Chapter 9

"BUFFY!" Giles called for her attention. The blonde slayer jumped in her seat, startled out of dozing off.

"What? I swear I was listening. I was just closing my eyes, so I could concentrate better," she swore as she looked around from her seat at the table to take in her surroundings. The library looked just the same as a minute ago before she had unintentionally begun to drift off. The only thing new was the slightly disapproving look her watcher was giving her from behind the counter.

"I have been trying to get your attention for the last several minutes. What has you so tired today? Has there been an increase in your number of slays on patrol?" he asked her genuinely concerned. Buffy leaned forward to lean her chin in her hand.

"No, it's just this exchange student guy my mom has me lugging around these past couple weeks. I mean, he's cute and all, but I have stuff I need to do and playing babysitter is not one of them. I had to wait until I knew he was asleep before sneaking out for patrol, and he stays up way later than my mom. I'm not getting home until after 3am only to wake up three hours later to be here, and I'm just tired. I'm so glad he went home this afternoon. I was already stressing before that because we have two nutty vamps now, and lets just say that's an experience all on its own. I mean, I was so stressed on the field trip we had two weeks ago I threatened to break a kids hand for touching the museum stuff, and Willow had to drag me away from the poor guy. He all but ran to the bus to get away from me," Buffy vented while she began to zone out again. Giles called her attention back by clearing his throat. Her head snapped back to him.

"Buffy, its been almost three weeks, and I know you are extremely protective of the vampires but if Spikes condition is not improving and Drusilla's not getting any better shouldn't you consider that maybe you need to..."

"Don't even finish that sentence watcher mine. You say it's ALREADY been almost three weeks, and I say it's ONLY been that long. Dalton took a while too, and before you even ask, I am willing to bring you over to their house whenever you're ready or bring them here. I also don't like your plan to meet one at a time. Wouldn't a big scoobie meeting with everyone be easier? You're the one who keeps putting it off, even Jenny has said she'd love to meet them but you told her you wanted to talk to them first. Besides, Spike is a LOT better than he was, good enough to argue with anyway, and Dru has been crazy for almost two hundred years, so I don't think that's going to change," Buffy interrupted as she maneuvered her body so her legs hung off the side of the chair. Giles turned away from her to start stacking books then spoke again.

"Well, I suppose it would be much easier just to meet them all at once. I can wait for Spike to be up to 100%, then we can arrange a meeting," he supplied rather quickly as he took a new stack of books and walked them over to a book cart. Buffy shook her head noticing her watcher's attempt to keep postponing.

"Are you scared of a couple souled vamps?" she asked him as she stood up from her chair and stretched. Giles scoffed.

"I am not. It's just that I think it would be wise to make sure that any potential complications are avoided. That's why I absolutely insist you make sure of Spike's mental stability before I put him near any regular humans, including me," Giles stammered. Buffy favored him with a skeptical look before a large grin spread across her features. She skipped over to the counter and grabbed the phone. Giles watched her questioningly as she dialed a number and began to twirl the cord around her fingers waiting for whomever she called to pick up and still looking at Giles like the cat that ate the canary. Giles heard the sound of someone picking up the other end and a woman's voice.

"Hey Jenna, are you guys busy tonight?" Buffy asked the woman on the phone. Giles face turned pale as he recognized the name as one of the vampires'. "Good. Is Spike still doing good enough to leave alone with Dru for a few hours?" Buffy paused while she waited for an answer, still watching Giles as he began to panic. "Great. Could you guys make sure that they're good then meet me at the school library just after sunset? It's time you were all formerly introduced to the gang." Buffy hung up the phone too look at her slack jawed watcher. Just then, the doors to the library opened to reveal Xander, Willow, and Cordelia making their way in. All three paused to look at Giles as he tried to pull together a sentence then quickly looked to Buffy who was still looking smug.

"Whoa, speechless watcher dude, what did we miss? Is there an apocalypse I should be worried about?" Xander asked Buffy as the three new arrivals sat down at the table previously occupied by a dozing slayer.

"No, I just forced Giles to finally stop procrastinating," she answered.

"Are we, like, in the twilight zone or something? Did you two switch bodies? I am not switching bodies with anyone. Do you know how long it took me to get this tan?" Cordy added with her usual zeal. Buffy just ignored her tone.

"No, I called my nest and they're FINALLY coming to meet you guys. Aside from Willow, you guys haven't really been introduced," Buffy explained. Xander looked around panicked.

"They're coming here? When? All of them?" he sputtered anxiously. Cordelia, Buffy, and Willow all rolled their eyes in unison.

"It's fine, Xander. I've met them, and they're not bad. I mean, sometimes Jenna can be intimidating, but Tony is like a big puppy dog, and Dalton is practically a vampire version of Giles. I think if you just give them a chance you'll like them just fine," Willow told her best guy friend. "should I run and see if miss Calender is still here?"

"Yeah, Xander, don't be a wimp," Cordy added. "Besides, don't they all have souls now anyway?

"Who has souls?" a voice questioned from the stacks sounding puzzled. Everyone's heads swung towards the direction of the voice to see Angel walk into view. Buffy's smile faded.

"Umm, Buffy, you haven't told original soul boy the news?" Xander wondered aloud as they all watched Angel make his way over to the stand between Buffy and Giles, who had yet to regain his ability to speak. Buffy looked up at Angel and grimaced guiltily. She unconsciously took a few steps toward the door to put some more space between them.

"Original? What's going on, Buffy? What haven't you told me?" Angel inquired of the Slayer who currently looked like a child with their hand in the cookie jar. She bit her bottom lip and turned away from him, looking for anything to save her from explaining herself. Luckily, or unluckily, for her the library doors choose that moment to swing in again and let a group of four bickering vampires into the conversation. Everyone turned towards the noise, and Angel instantly tensed at the sight of the new arrivals taking one look at the black-clad, blond male at the head of the group and burst to action.

"BUFFY, LOOK OUT IT'S SPIKE!"

Jenna hung up the phone and called out to the rest of the house.

"That was Buffy. She wants us to meet her at the school as soon as we can. Apparently, we're gonna meet everyone finally," Jenna yelled loud enough to get anyone who was in the house's attention. A moment later Tony walked into the living room from his and Jenna's bedroom down the hall. Spike and Dalton followed in from the stairs.

"Good. I need out of this damn house before I suffocate," Spike professed. Jenna looked at him a little nervously.

"Why don't you stay here and take care of Dru? We should be back in a few hours; we can call if something comes up. Besides, it's just a bunch of teenagers, a computer teacher, and a stuffy librarian guy," Jenna told him. Spike didn't want to hear it.

"I've been in this house for three weeks, and I'm about to go out of my soddin' mind if I don't get out and do something. I don't care if it's just to the school, and Buffy's not here to stop me. Dru will be fine for a few hours, and I WONT break if I step out that door, contrary to popular belief," Spike ranted while heading to the front door.

"Buffy is just trying to help. You keep slipping back to crazy town man, and she's worried," Tony defended. Spike merely huffed in response.

"I've been fine for a week, so try another one mate" He scoffed his hand on the doorknob.  
"How about the one where you have an attitude, and she probably wants her watcher to actually like us so a good first impression is imperative?" Dalton offered as way of excuse.

"I do not have an attitude...she's the one with a stick up her arse," Spike shot back.

"If you're talking about that last argument you guys had, I don't see any woman taking it well when you mention she smells like a frat party and old pizza." Jenna sighed, knowing exactly what he was going on about.

"Well she did, 'snot my fault she got offended when I pointed it out. I was just tryin' to find out what happened," Spike said as he cracked the door open letting the last rays of light from the day seep in to fall on the wall behind him. Tony saw the light and got a nervous look on his face. Dalton took a wary step towards Spike, while, Jenna still argued with the master vampire.

"Well, she interrupted some sort of giant snake ritual thing AT a party in a FRAT house. You know most of those guys live on pizza," Jenna concluded. Tony started to walk towards Spike slowly, while he was distracted with Jenna. Spike, however, noticed both Dalton and Tony's careful movements.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Spike caught them and asked confused as Tony and Dalton both froze a few feet from the vamp.

"You do realize you were about to walk outside, and the sun's not even all the way down yet? We have about an hour of light left. We can leave then," Tony said as if talking to a child. Spike placed his hand on his face running it back up and over his hair before looking to the ceiling as if asking god to please help him with these people. A second later he looked at them one at a time, as if gauging how serious they were being. They all seemed to be ready to grab him if he tried out walk out side. Spike chuckled in exasperation.

"Don't tell me none of you has figured this part out yet? Seriously, you've been at this longer than me," he admonished as he took a step away from the door. Everyone seemed to relax for a second right before he reached back unexpectedly to throw the door wide open to let the light pour into the house, bathing them all in sunlight. Surprised, they all jumped back and away with lightning reflexes. The three had their faces covered with their arms, but when they didn't hear Spike yelling in pain or smell his smoking flesh, they all looked up. Spike stood fully immersed in the sunlight smiling smugly at each one of them.

"HOW ARE YOU NOT ON FIRE!?" Jenna exclaimed loudly.

"Haven't quite sussed that out, pet, but I'm pretty sure is has somethin' to do with the shiny new soul we got. Now, I'm heading to the library with or with out you lot. I'll be seein' ya," he proclaimed before heading out the door at a run, leaving them all dumbstruck. Dalton was the first to move. He walked into the sunbeam and slowly streched his hand out. After several seconds with no burning or even the slightest bit of smoke, he puffed his chest up, closed his eyes, and stepped all the way in. He blinked open his eyes and looked at the others in awe.

"Well, looks like we have even more research ahead of us," Dalton told the others as they too slowly walked into the light. All three of them felt as if they had just been given the greatest of gifts, so with the largest smiles any of them had worn on their faces in months, they headed to catch up with the cocky Brit who was probably already half way to the school by then.

"BUFFY, LOOK OUT IT'S SPIKE!" Angel yelled.

Buffy turned her head, intending to calm Angel down, just in time to see him drop a stake out of his sleeve and throw it straight at Spike. Everything happened in slow motion. Buffy was at the wrong distance and angle to catch it, but she had one other option. She acted on instinct.

Spike, who had still been talking to Tony, just barely turned his head in time to see the stake coming. It never hit, , in a blur of movement, swiftly turned to face him jumping sideways so that she put herself in the path of the stake. It buried itself in her right shoulder, which she managed just barely to put right where Spike's heart would have been. She let out a yell of pain and fell into Spike's chest; he caught her as she fell to the floor a look of pure shock on his face.

Angel stood frozen. Everyone stared at Buffy in horror. Tony and Jenna recovered first vamping out, and sprung at Angel. He managed to shake himself out his shock in time to defend himself. The attack seemed to start time again, and everyone else ran to Buffy's side. Spike slowly lowered her to sit on the floor so that someone could look at her injury as if in a daze. Every vampire in the room had their demon visage forward as the smell of Slayer blood permeated the room. Dalton was the first to make it to Buffy and Spike looking carefully over her wound as she leaned into Spike's chest hiding her face. Her hands gripped Spike's biceps with bruising strength. She could still hear the fight raging between the other three vampires through the haze of pain.

"Tony, Jenna, Angel STOP!" She yelled from where her face was hidden as Giles, Xander, and Willow got to their side, Giles gently pushed Dalton out of the way to look at Buffy's wound. The three fighters ignored her and kept going at it, Angel just barley holding out against the enraged lovers. Willow and Xander looked back and forth between their injured friend and the fighting vampires, while Cordelia kept looking at the two vampires beside the bleeding girl. She was smart enough to realize that aside from the bumpies they didn't look like they were about to try and eat her.

"It didn't hit anything vital. If we're careful extracting it, the stake shouldn't cause any permanent damage," Dalton said to Giles as he continued to examine the extensively bleeding wound in Buffy's shoulder. Giles looked at him and the oddly motionless Spike, whose face still showed his shock,surprised that with this amount of blood, and Slayer's blood at that, the vampires had not been whipped into frenzy. He went to grab the stake, and Buffy whimpered. Spike's face shifted from shock to concern as he let out a low growl glaring at the watcher.

"Why don't we get her somewhere we can lay her down before you go yankin' that out of her shoulder? Better yet, got any pain killers before you go doin' that?" Spike ground out as he pulled the injured girl further into his chest as if to protect her. He went to speak again but a loud crash interrupted him.

"SHE SAID STOP FIGHTING YOU BLOODY PILLOCKS!" he roared, and everyone who was staring flinched, while the three fighters froze mid battle.

"What he said." Buffy followed more quietly with gritted teeth as she pulled away from Spike's arms a little to look at the shambles that they had made out of the other side of the library. Buffy forced herself to relax as she addressed the culprits. "Please. No more fighting.. Angel, they're my friends, and if you make one more move to hurt them, I won't ask them to stop again." Angel, having now had the opportunity to look at the situation, finally noticed what was happening. He was confused by the dynamic of the group. The ones he had thought were the enemy seemed to be protecting the humans, especially Buffy, and Spike's role in it all had Angel's head spinning and grasping for answers.

"Buffy, what's going on?" Angel asked as his eyes darted to the two vampires he had been fighting, noticing that they were looking at Buffy with worry. Buffy was still resting against a squatting Spike's chest sitting on the floor with her back to the rest of the room. "And William, get your hands off Buffy and give her to her watcher," Angel ground out.

"Sod off," Spike spat as he looked back down to Buffy after taking a second to let his game face fall away. "I'm gonna pick you up now, Slayer. Got to get you off the floor and laying someplace a bit more comfy okay?" he warned her. She nodded her acceptance, and Spike felt her brace herself against him. He slid an arm under her legs then stood up with her, holding her bridal style with her still hiding in his shirt. Everyone in the room watched the exchange silently. "Okay, Watcher, where am I puttin' her?" Giles stood up with them and motioned to his office.

"I'll clear my desk off, and we can put her in there, that way if anyone walks in we can be discrete." Giles offered, taking stock of his terrorized library before turning on the rest of the people in the room. "We need to get this mess picked up before anyone walks in. Willow and Cordelia, why don't you come help me with Buffy, while the rest of you take care of this mess."

"I didn't make the mess. Why do I have to help? Can't I come help with Buffy?" Xander whined. Cordelia shook her head in exasperation and looked at him with a 'duh' face.

"We're going to have to take her shirt off, moron, why else do you think?" she pointed out, Xander's face turned a deep shade of red.

"Oh, well, I guess I can pick up some books while we wait," he sputtered before turning towards the mess. Tony and Jenna were already picking up the table and chairs, while Dalton had started to gather the books. Angel stayed where he was, watching Buffy and Spike as he carried her towards the office with Giles and the girls in tow.

"So, it would be really nice if you helped, especially since this is all your fault, asshole," Jenna hissed at Angel. He just glared at her in reply.

"How is this my fault? I was trying to protect Buffy. How was I supposed to know that Spike wasn't going to hurt her?" Angel countered while he bent down to pick up some of the papers at his feet.

"Please, just stop arguing. Buffy can probably hear you two, and I know she'll just send Cordelia out here to yell at you. I've had enough eye rolls from her for today, thank you," Xander cut into their dialogue stopping the argument from escalating. The two gave each other one more dirty look before turning to clean opposite sections.

"Why hasn't Spike come back out? I thought they were going to be taking her shirt off?" Tony asked Dalton as they began to sort through the books and put them where they belonged. Angel's ears perked up at the mention of Spike's continued presence.

"Good question," Xander added in.

"I bet you Buffy has him in there still so that Angel and him won't get into it. We all know those two have history," Jenna answered for Dalton. "She's not stupid. She's seen Spike's temper over the last few weeks." Angel paused to turn to her with a serious look on his face.

"What do you mean? What exactly made Spike fall under Buffy's protection?" He questioned anyone who would answer. Tony sighed then went to stand in front of Angel deciding to clear some things up.

"Okay, Great Forehead, lets get some stuff straight. I'm Tony. That's my mate Jenna and our nest mate Dalton. You already know Spike and Drusilla so no introductions necessary there." Tony paused for half a second when he noticed Angel tense at the mention of the loony vampiress but continued," The four of us that came here today, well you see, Buffy gave us our souls back. We watch out for her, and she watches out for us. Spike's the newest so he's still getting used to everything. Him and Buffy have butt heads a few times in the past few weeks, but to be fair, they're both stressed, so if you see them arguing do NOT jump into it. They always take care of it themselves. Normally with one stomping off or Buffy popping Spike in the nose. It doesn't mean that she wants him staked though. Got it?" Angel just looked at Tony as if he'd grown an extra head When he finished, he looked to Xander to clarify and the teen just nodded his head in agreement.

"It's true, Buffy can give vamps their souls back somehow and she made herself some new friends. She does complain about Spike being a jerk sometimes though. Buffy refers to them as her 'nest' and everything. Willow even feels safe enough around them to hang out over at their place as long as Buffy is there." Xander added but turned a thoughtful look in Tony's direction. "You said the four of you have your souls, does that mean she didn't give Spikes girlfriend hers back too?"

"Dru won't let her, she keeps saying that the sparks not meant for her and that it would break her already cracked teapot so they won't be able to have any more parties, or something like that." Tony answered.

"It's cuz she's already crazy and if she got it back it would send her over the line from functioning to un-functioning crackpot." Dalton translated for everyone.

"Isn't it dangerous to have an unsouled vamp in the house when Buffy and Willow go over?" Xander worried.

"No. Dru likes Buffy and Willow. Plus, she's too ill to be able to really hurt anyone. The only one she hurts is Spike, and that's only if he oversteps his bounds with her. Apparently she's decided to friend zone him, and he's still obviously in love with her. He tried to lean his head on her this morning, and she hit him with the book she was reading." Tony half laughed, obviously finding the whole situation amusing. Jenna threw a book at him, which he caught.

"That's none of anyone's business but their's Anthony Andrew Wright, and you better keep your mouth shut so Buffy can explain for herself what's been going on or you'll be sleeping on the couch," she threatened. Xander whistled.

"Oooh, full name and couch threat, you're in trouble man," Xander teased finding he was warming up to the new vampires rather quickly. It helped that they were handing Angel his ass earlier too. Tony shot the teen a glare, but it quickly turned into an amused smile. Xander smiled back getting the whole 'what's a guy to do' vibe. The teen was still on the fence as far as trusting the vamps, but the enemy of my enemy rule currently applied.

Angel didn't like what he was hearing but held his tongue. It was silent after that for awhile as they straightened out the rest of the library. They were all sitting around the table with the exception of Angel, when Spike, followed by Buffy, and then Willow, Cordelia, and Giles came out of the office. Buffy's right arm was in a makeshift sling, and she had on a large button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up that looked like it may have been a spare Giles had kept for emergencies. Spike moved to go stand at the corner of the table by Tony and Dalton with his back to the book cage, so he could keep an eye on Angel. Giles walked behind the counter leaving the girls to all stand on Xander's side of the table with Buffy at the corner by Jenna's seat facing Angel. She exhaled a shaky deep breath and met Angel's eyes with renewed determination.

"So, I guess I have some filling in to do. I'll start at the beginning, and just to be clear, you've got no say in any of this." She started off firm, leaving no room for argument.  



	10. Chapter10

Several days had passed since the incident at the library, which had resulted in a very broody Angel promptly storming out without a word as soon as Buffy had finished her story. Dalton had followed suggesting they all head home to calm down and get some rest.

Spike lay awake in bed starring at two unopened bottles of Jack sitting on the little side table that Tony had given him. He hadn't drank anything since getting all souled up, and the only reason he even had the bottles now was because Drusilla had had a particularly bad night and refused to let him get anywhere near her to help. He finally gave up and left in a huff to go for a walk and clear his head. Spike lay there eyeing the bottles as if he could find the answers to all his confusion somewhere in the amber colored liquid. Thinking back on it, he had no idea why he even bought the bloody things. He was afraid it would make things worse just as much as he hoped it would make him numb. Still staring, his thoughts began to wander.

His dark princess, the woman who he had once thought his salvation, the love of his unlife, wanted nothing to do with him, and it was tearing him up. He felt his chest tighten and if his heart could beat it would have been racing from thoughts of Drusilla, the woman who murdered him, the woman who made him a killer. Before he had even formed the thought to reach for a bottle it was already un-capped and brought to his lips. He could feel the burn of the liquid as it flowed down his throat, silently hoping it would scorch at least some of his inner turmoil. He still loved Dru, but he also hated her. Every single victim, every single vile act that Spike had ever committed was done for the woman asleep in the other room.

Two-thirds through the second bottle later, he heard the front door open, and the voice of the other woman responsible for his internal maelstrom. Not even a month had passed since he had fantasized about all the ways he could kill her. He had even gotten so far as to have his fangs on her neck, ready to snuff out her already too brief existence. Just another second and he would have had that wondrous elixir that was her blood filling his mouth and running through his own veins. There went the rest of bottle number two.

He listened as the lowered voices of one of his new nest mates, Jenna from the sounds of it, and Buffy had what sounded like an easygoing conversation. He sat up and put the now empty bottle back on the side table next to its twin. Spike threw on a dark blue button up shirt and buttoned a few of the buttons, hiding just enough of his almost completely healed chest as he headed out towards the voices. He really had done a number on himself seeing as it still hadn't healed. He was almost there, but the episode he had a bit over a week ago caused him to reopen a lot of the wounds in another futile effort to separate the soul from the demon. It would probably help if he ate like he was supposed to, but even the thought of drinking down that pig swill made his newly re-grown conscious twinge.

He made his way downstairs. At the foot of the stairs he paused and looked into the living room to find Buffy and Jenna sitting on the love seat together talking about how Buffy's principle had apparently volunteered her for Halloween chaperoning. Buffy no longer had her arm in a sling from the stake she intercepted on his behalf.

'Just one more thing to keep me awake during the day,' Spike contemplated.

Just as he was thinking about slipping back up to his room Buffy's head turned, and she saw him. Their eyes met for just a moment, and Buffy opened her mouth like she was about to say something. Before she could say anything though, Spike turned his head and began walking towards the kitchen.

He heard Buffy exhale a sigh, which was quickly followed by a very low growl coming from Jenna. Spike paused and turned around with a glare.

"You got somethin' say?" he sneered at the obviously angry Jenna. She looked from him to Buffy and back to him with a glare.

"Yeah I do! What is your problem?! Buffy jumped in front of a stake for you and you're just going to avoid her and blow her off the next time you see her?" Jenna fumed. Buffy put her hand on Jenna's arm to try to stop her from going any further. "You could at least tell her thank you for stopping you from fitting in a damn ash trey!" Spike eyes flashed yellow, and he felt the numbness he had been trying to quell turn to rage.

"Thank her?! Are you serious? I didn't ask to be in this little group like some people here, so why should I say thanks? I wouldn't have been in the damn library in the first place if it wasn't for her, and I definitely wouldn't have had to lay eyes on my git of a grandsire," Spike barked at her. Buffy stood up and stepped over to get in Spike's face not liking his attitude with Jenna.

"Hey! There is no reason for you to go all nuclear on her, and OH MY GOD you smell like a bar. Are you drunk? Its like 4 o'clock in the afternoon?" Buffy shrieked as she took a step back from him seemingly to get away from the smell. Spike tensed his jaw and glared at her.

"What I do is my own business Slayer. You are NOT the boss of me. The only reason I am here at all is because Dru won't leave, and I go where she goes," he ground out between his clinched teeth.

"Well, she doesn't have to leave. She is welcome for as long as she wants given she doesn't go out and kill anyone. However, as long as you're staying here, what you do IS my business because you are all my responsibility, no matter how much of an ass you've been since we brought Drusilla home with us. I mean really, Spike, every time I turn around you're saying something that just makes me want to punch you in the nose. It's like the soul doesn't even do anything for you," Buffy retorted, attempting to regain her calm and failing miserably. She watched as Spike's nostrils flared and his eyebrow twitched simultaneously.

"How in the bleedin' hell do you figure that we fall under your responsibility? It better not be because of this soddin' soul because gotta tell ya, Slayer, if you were that concerned with it you should have just dusted me that first night in the school. I can take care of the two of us JUST FINE!" he ended with a shout.

"How would you do that, huh? Would you be back there at that factory with all those other vamps just chomping away on the townspeople? The way you talk sometimes I would think that you don't seem to actually want to change your ways, do you just want to go back to your life of murdering people for a meal with the added bonus of walking around in the day. Speaking of that, we've yet to discuss you walking around in the sunlight, how long did you plan on keeping that from everyone? Because if you do decide to go back to your old 'big bad' ways, I will not hesitate to put a big splinter right through your heart, Spike, is that what you want?!" she screamed. Spike took the last step towards Buffy to get right in her face.

"YES! THAT'S EXAXTLY WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET YOU TO DO. I CANT LIVE LIKE THIS! PLEASE," he screamed in her face as his own fa ade began to crumble. He then sank down to the floor with his head down before he whispered, "Just please, Buffy, end it. I have nothing left to keep me here."

He wasn't crying, but Buffy and Jenna could feel the sadness rolling of him in waves. Buffy was stunned speechless, and her anger deflated almost instantly. She knelt down to look him in the eyes as Jenna left the room to give them some space to work it out themselves. Spike refused to meet the young woman's concerned gaze.

"Spike, I need you to be honest with me. Have you been being a pain for the last few weeks to try and get me to stake you?" Buffy quietly asked.

"Can we just forget this conversation and pretend I kept walkin' when Jenna opened her big mouth?" Spike quietly begged. Buffy tentatively put a hand on Spike's shoulder causing him to look up and meet her eyes. What he saw broke him. The genuine caring she had for him was not something he was willing to accept, so he immediately dropped his eyes to the floor. He wanted her to hate him as much as he hated himself. His vision blurred, but he refused to let a tear fall. Spike took a deep unneeded breath. Buffy saw his inner conflict and gave him another second to pull himself together before she spoke again.

"If you won't answer that question then will you answer another one for me? Do you not realize that we want you here? Isn't that at least a little bit of a reason to stay? For family?" she asked him. Spike huffed bitterly in reply.

"The only family I had was Dru, and she won't have anything to do with me. I can't even touch her. She refuses to let me help, and I'm just watching her fade away from bloody garlic poising because of that mob in Prague. I don't know what to do. I'm not used to feelin' helpless. Everyone else is doing what they can to help her, while I'm stuck in my room all day going through books tryin' to find a cure that I'm not even sure exists anymore. My entire world has revolved around her for almost one hundred and twenty years, and now I can't even feel the blood connection we had. When I try to feel for her, all I feel is you," Spike paused to make direct eye contact as if trying to get her to understand, "So yeah, 've been tryin' to get you to stake me by bein' a prick, and let's be honest, Buffy, you don't want me here. You just feel responsible for me just like these other poor sods, but I don't deserve your pity. I'm a murder and I should be dust."

"You were a murderer, Spike, you're not any more," Buffy insisted.

"No, Slayer, I'm just a murderer who doesn't want to kill anymore. Doesn't change the fact that I've killed more people than you've ever met or probably will ever meet in your entire life. Can't change what 've done, nor can I make up for it. I know that. I still think about ripping into someone's throat and filling my belly with their blood. I can taste how amazing it would be just thinking about it, and then I am horrified with myself for the thought. I've always known the wrong of it, just didn't care. You lot would be better off without me mopin' around," Spike finished his piece and looked away again. Had he kept eye contact he probably would have noticed the glint in Buffy's eyes, and he definitely would have caught the the fist that flew out and struck him square in the nose. He howled in pain and surprise as he shot to his feet glaring at the irate blonde in front of him.

"WHAT THE FUCK YOU BITCH?!" he yelled. Buffy stood up toe to toe with him.

"That was for being stupid. You are wanted, and we do not feel pity..." Buffy paused as Spike tilted his head questioningly "Well, maybe a little but it's not because I think you're pathetic or anything. It's because I can see you're hurting, and I know there's nothing I can do about it. Maybe you're right, and you can't change your past but that shouldn't stop you from making a better future for yourself. The person you are is determined by the choices you make and the thoughts you have that you choose to ACT on. I mean really, take out the blood drinking and allergy to holy water, crosses, and garlic along with the wiggy lack of reflection thing and what do you have? A super powered person who doesn't want people to hurt and has some serious fighting skills. You could save so many lives. I'm only 16 and don't even have one quarter of the experience that you do in combat. That's an invaluable resource." Buffy paused to make sure her words were sinking into the master vamp's skull. He didn't appear to be preparing an argument, so she continued.

"So quit being mopey and feeling sorry for yourself. Quit thinking that you're useless when you, out of everyone else in this house, has the potential to do great things. Yes, you did some terrible and unforgivable things, which can never be erased. I won't forgive you for them, but if you can move past them, I will too. Even Giles pointed out the fact that if I can get you to patrol with me, I might actually live to see 25..." Spike quirked his eyebrow at that, while still holding his bleeding nose. "Okay, so he said I could possibly be the longest lived slayer ever, but now I'm just babbling." Buffy held out her hand to him. He looked at it warily before extending his own. She gabbed it and proceeded to drag him to the kitchen where she made him sit at one of the chairs at the island before handing him a paper towel for his nose. Spike cleaned himself up watching as Buffy began maneuvering around the kitchen pulling out different things to make something. He slowly relaxed while he cleaned his broken nose.

The silence steadily turned comfortable, while Spike watched Buffy stirring some milk in a pot on the stove. He began to feel as if they had reached a some semblance of an understanding. Never forgive and never forget, but move forward. While she was still stirring the milk, he heard the others coming down the stairs. First, Dalton came in with Dru and took up the other two stools. Dalton sat in between the two former lovers with his book open reading, while Dru sat miss Edith on the counter and quietly hummed to the doll. Shortly thereafter, Jenna and Tony came into the kitchen and silently began to get out mugs for every one. They set everything up for Buffy as she expertly began to stir in the cocoa powder and sugar as if she had done it a million times. Spike looked around at everyone and reached out with his senses. He couldn't feel Drusilla like he had hoped, but he got the deep feeling of family from the other four, and unlike his relationship with Dru, Angelus, and Darla, the feeling wasn't so intense as it was solid and comforting. He let himself feel comforted by their presence as Buffy poured the delicious smelling mixture into everyone's mugs. The Slayer handed everyone steaming drinks with a small smile for each person. She made sure she handed Spike his last.

"Would you like any little marshmallows for you cocoa?" she asked him as he starred at the cup and watched what smelled like nutmeg swirl around the top. He nodded his head, and she headed to a little cupboard over the microwave and came back with a big bag of mini marshmallows for him. When she handed him the bag, he grabbed her hand before she could take it away.

"Thank you," he said, not meeting her gaze. Buffy understood and nodded. She knew he was talking about more than the little marshmallows. 


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Halloween rolled into Sunnydale on a chilly breeze. The days leading up to it saw a definite improvement in the relationship between all of the housemates. Spike had begun to be less abrasive towards everyone and Drusilla appeared to be doing better. Her bruises were fading and she was eating regularly. She made faces at the bagged blood, but Spike found ways to make her drink it. He refused her requests to bring something 'fresh' time and time again, and much to his surprise she would pat him on the head as if she were congratulating him on a job well done and then would accept his refusal with no argument. She spent more time with Jenna and Dalton or Willow and Buffy when they would be over than she actually did with Spike. She insisted on alienating her childe and even went so far as to tell him, "You are no longer MY William, he's not ready for me yet, so I'm being . YOU are a knight for the sunshine now." Each word was punctuated with dramatic finger jabs. Every time Buffy was a witness to Dru telling this to Spike, she saw the hurt in his eyes. He would then leave whatever room they were in, which was usually followed by the sound of a slamming door.

The day before Halloween found Buffy, Willow and Xander at a costume shop that had popped up almost overnight. It was called 'Ethan's'. Willow, despite Buffy's' attempts, bought a simple ghost costume while Xander just paid for a cheap toy gun to go with some things he already had at home. Buffy was determined to pick something at least remotely fashionable amongst the cheap witch costumes, fake fangs, and cutesy storybook characters. Right about the time she was about to give up and head to another shop, a bright read coat near the back of the store caught her eye, and despite not being a fan of the game or the show, she decided that dressing up as an international super thief would be great as long as the outfit was.

The next night, Buffy pulled her red trench coat more tightly around her person when a sudden breeze blew down the street and threatened to upset her prep work. She had to quickly grab her wide brimmed hat and her wig to stop it from blowing away in the strong gust. Halloween wasn't turning out as bad as she had thought. Her group of kids, the ones assigned to her by Principal Snyder, were actually really nice. Willow and Xander were also having a blast with their groups as well. Buffy sent her kids up to the last house for the night before she looked over to her two friends.

Willow was talking to Xander while the kids were busy cleaning out the candy bowl of yet another residence. Xander was frowning and Willow had on a hopeful expression as they talked. Buffy couldn't hear what was being said, but she had seen these exact same expressions from them over the past few days. Willow had been working on getting Xander to come to the new house so he could get to know their new friends and allies. He had yet to agree, saying he wasn't sure about them or the whole soul situation. He and Giles kept coming up with reasons to postpone any meetings that weren't in the school library or within easy reach of the weapons -or scotch in Giles case-. Spike had generously offered to help him finish off the bottle that was stashed in the Watchers desk.

Buffy had to look away from her friends as the wind threatened to whip her hat off again. As she reached up to stop it from flying away, an unpleasant electrical jolt ran straight up her spine, causing her to become light headed and to stumble. She caught herself as she stood, her back straighter than it was before.Taking a deep breath to clear her lungs and to get her bearings after the unexpected strange feeling, Carmen adjusted the collar to her favorite red coat and looked around, trying to remember why she had chosen this particular town as her next target. She noticed that she was out in the open with chaos raging around her, in the form of miniature demons that were terrorizing the suburb. She decided to head for cover. The further she walked, the more her head cleared, until she could finally remember what had brought her to the hellmouth. With a small smile, Carmen Sandiego headed off into the night towards her next rare find.

"That cross will look great above my fireplace."

Willow ran through the pandemonium that was Sunnydale suburbia as quickly as she could towards the school library. Literally, through it, seeing as her body was still several blocks back. She remembered feeling a strange buzz right before she passed out and had woken up standing next to her body, while Xander had taken cover behind Mrs. Leary's azalea bushes. After she'd convinced her best friend that she could be trusted, she realized Buffy was missing. She then had to convince G.I. Xander to take her body and hide it inside Buffy's house while she went for help. She burst into the Library to find Giles sitting at a table with Ms. Calendar and Dalton, going over some of the books she recognized from the restricted section, books the Watcher wouldn't even let her look through.

Her sudden appearance out of the wall caused Dalton to jump up out of the chair he was in and he shot halfway across the library. Giles looked up from his book, completely startled and Jenny just looked confused.

"Giles! We have a major situation!" Willow stammered as Giles stood up and came towards the redhead.

"I dare say we do, how did you come through the wall like that?" Giles asked, looking worried. Jenny closed the book she had been looking at before getting up to approach Willow. Dalton pulled himself together to come stand by the other two adults in the room to wait for an explanation.

"I don't know how it happened, but people are turning into their costumes! Xander doesn't know who he is, he just thinks he's a soldier and my physical body is with him at Buffy's house because I'm dressed as a ghost." All three adults give her outfit a curious look at her mention of being a ghost. "I was wearing this under my ghost sheet…It was Buffy's idea, okay!" Willow defended her outfit. Jenny just smiled while Giles cleared his throat. "Anyways, even the kids are affected. It's total Chaos!" Willow spewed. She then preceded to tell them everything that had happened since she'd found herself outside of her body. When she mentioned that Buffy was missing, Dalton's eyes widened almost impossibly.

"What was Buffy dressed as Willow? I haven't seen her since she picked it" Dalton questioned urgently. Willow chewed her lip.

"Um, it was Carmen Sandiego from that TV show, the one where she's like a super spy that steals rare or historical stuff and those kids have to catch her but never can. You know, the one that used to be a game. It was the only one she found she liked when we went shopping together, the rest of the store was pretty much picked clean already," Willow answered. Giles removed his glasses and began to clean them.

"Good lord, no telling where she has run off too. So EVERYONE became their costume?" Giles questioned. Willow shook her head.

"Not everyone. I noticed other people who were dressed up running around terrified on my way here. Cordy was one of them. I told her to go to Buffy's house and meet up with Xander. She was more concerned with her costume being ripped than the wolf man that had done it," Willow complained. "I mean really, just because she could afford to go to Party Town instead of the new place, she thinks she's so much better than us," Willow babbled in typical distractible teenage fashion.

"Calm down Willow, you said she got it at a different shop than you three, and that it was a new shop? Where was your costume from?" Ms. Calendar asked as she attempted to get Willow to focus again.

"It's over on Weatherly drive. It's called Ethan's. The guy who owns it is some English dude who just moved to town. He was really nice and gave us all a good deal. Oh no, do you think someone put a curse on his shop?" Willow answered worried.

"Bloody hell! Did you say Ethan? Did you happen to catch his last name?" Giles spouted as he went red in the face. The other three looked at him in shock.

"Rupert, that's a first. I don't think I've ever heard you use that kind of language," Jenny stated with a little quirk of her eyebrow and a small smile. Giles blushed.

"Did you catch his whole name Willow?" the flustered Watcher asked again. Willow looked really thoughtful for a moment while she racked her brain.

"I don't remember him wearing a name tag or anything," she answered, then paused. Giles looked worried so Willow screwed her eyes shut and thought harder.

"OH, I remember that this guy in a really nice suit came up and called him Mr. Rayne right as we were leaving. Does that help?" With that answer the worry on Giles face disappeared and turned into a look so cold that even Dalton took an instinctive step back.

"I dare say it does Willow. Why don't you and Dalton head back to Buffy's house to make sure Ms. Chase made it there. Jenny, why don't you stay here in case Buffy shows up? I will go have a talk with our new town resident. I believe the chaos outside will be resolved shortly," Giles said in a voice so cold and controlled no one dared argue. Dalton and Willow nodded as they both left out the double doors together. Jenny watched the them leave and then turned to Giles who still had the look of someone who was a mission. She took the last step needed to close the gap between them to take his hand and looked him in the eye.

"Be safe Rupert," she said. Giles just nodded as he gave her hand a squeeze before letting it go. Jenny watched as a very different Rupert Giles walked out of the library to go save the night.


	12. 12

The house on Thousand Oaks Drive was not decorated for trick-or-treaters like the other homes on the block. It was outdated and slightly worn down and in desperate need of some new shingles as well as a good power washing. The tan paint was peeling and all of the hedges looked like they were about to take over the yard. It hadn't been lived in for years, but in the weeks leading up to Halloween, an older model black car with dark, spray painted windows had been seen parked in the driveway. Several people had even been seen coming and going inside at odd hours. The kids that had been walking around with bags full of the stuff dentists' nightmares were made of would cross the street just to be as far away from the house as possible. The rumor amongst the local children was that a serial killer had moved in and that the police were too afraid to arrest him.

A brave group of middle school kids who had refused to look like chickens had decided to approach the front porch while another group of younger kids had watched from across the street. The brave group were loitering on the front porch, debating on whether or not it was worth the popularity points to try and knock on the door, an ear piercing scream came from inside the house. It clearly wasn't any sort of recording. It took all of three seconds for the older kids to run and join the rest of the kids on the other side of the street.

Inside the house, Spike was attempting to calm down his loony sire while Tony stood back and bit his lip. Drusilla had been fine all day, just staring quietly at the wall clock, still as death-like she had been since she woken up that afternoon- Spike had been watching something on T.V. while Tony played some video game on the Gameboy Buffy had brought him. When the clock struck 6 pm, Dru let out an ear-piercing wail that Tony would always swear had made his left ear drum burst. Spike sprung off the couch and went straight for Dru who was still shrieking up a storm.

"Bloody hell kitten, what's wrong. Tell Spike what's the matter!" Spike asked Dru with thinly disguised panic in his voice. Tony stayed off to the side in case he needed to jump in. He had no idea what to do in a situation like this. Dru was holding her head and had fallen to the floor and curled up in a fetal position. Spike was crouched over her, petting her hair and whispering to her as calmly as he could manage while she just kept up that awful wailing. After a few minutes -that felt like an eternity- she quieted down and began to mumble.

"The dance is starting and the dance cards are full. We must crash the party before the Waltz begins or the punch will be spilled too soon," she rambled as Spike shushed her.

"What do you see Dru, what's happening?" Spiked asked when he realized that she was having a vision, and that it wasn't just her normal insanity talking. Just then, screaming started coming from outside of the house. Spike and Tony locked eyes immediately and Tony ran to the window. Spike watched as his face turned from curious worry to outright terror. "What's goin' on?" Spike demanded when Tony didn't say anything right away.

"I'm not real sure, but if I had to take a guess from the mini demons chasing that little old lady down the street, I would have to say that everyone has turned into their costume," Tony finally answered as he kept his eyes on the window. Spike was about to stand up and take a look for himself when Drusilla's hand grabbed him by the wrist and effectively froze him in place. It was the first time she had intentionally touched him without violence in weeks.

"You must sign up for the Quadrille so that when it's the Watcher's turn to pick a dance he will have to take the waltz," Drusilla whispered. Spike sighed.

"So I gotta go find the watcher yeah?" he asked her. Dru nodded her head and let go of his wrist.

"Romeo, will you stay here and keep an eye on Dru while I go sort this mess out?" Spike asked Tony as he stood up straight.

"Yeah I can, and what did I tell you about calling me Romeo?" Tony complained as Spike just shrugged his shoulder.

"I think it fits. I better be off before some little bit decides to try and eat the neighbors dog or somthin' like that." Spike headed to the front door but stopped with his hand on the handle. He turned to face Tony as he turned the knob. "If you have to, chain her to the bed, she can get really disoriented after a vision and can forget what's what." Tony nodded in understanding as Spike headed out into the night. Tony watched out the window as Spike headed towards the school, his red shirt and bleached hair sticking out like a sore thumb. Tony felt a hand land on his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his skin. When he turned, he saw Drusilla staring out the window.

"There goes the white knight for the light," Drusilla alliterated with a giggle "Princess doesn't have much longer to wait for her daddy to make her better. Then I can introduce my William to all the pretty things in the world. I think we'll start in France: I do so love the sounds of the church bells. Do you think he will enjoy them too?" Tony arched an eyebrow in confusion as Drusilla took her hand away and began to dance around the living room. Tony couldn't wait for Jenna to get home from work.

After Spike left the Library where he'd only found Ms. Calendar -who had caught him up on events- Spike headed towards the costume shop that Jenny said the Watcher had been headed to. His demon was relishing in the violence and chaos going on around him while the man in him was angry at whoever had caused this. No wonder Buffy was so high strung most of the time. She couldn't even get the night off, the one night that was suppose to be worry free.

He got to the shop just as the Watcher was parking. He ran up to the man as he got out of the car. Giles seemed surprised to see him and Spike wasn't surprised when the Watcher reached for the stake he had in his jacket pocket.

"What are you doing here Spike?" Giles asked after he got his hand around the wooden implement of vampire doom.

"Came to help Dru. She had a vision and said I needed to come find you and lend a hand. Went to the library first and that computer teacher bird gave me the details. So we gonna beat this Ethan guy up?" Spike asked as he bounced on the balls of his feet.

"I can handle this myself Spike, you should just get out here," Giles told him. Spike smirked and shook his head.

"No can do, Watcher. If you go in there and get hurt, I would have to explain to the Slayer how I stood by and let her father figure go it alone, and she's much scarier than you are mate." The vampire disputed. Giles met his eyes and could tell he would not back down.

"Fine then, but let me handle him. We have history and I know I can get him to talk with the right motivation." Spike noticed a certain gleam malice in the Watcher's eye as he said that. It had him second-guessing his assumptions about the mans stuffy background.

"I got a better idea. How 'bout we play a little good cop, bad cop with the bloke. I'll be the bad cop because, lets face it, I'm a lot scarier than you when I pull the demon out." Spike suggested. Giles thought about it for a moment. He had to admit, even though he would love to knock his old acquaintance around a bit for putting the town and his Slayer in danger, Spike had a point.

"You may be on to something. As much as I would love to be the one to inflict some damage, it may be more efficient this way," Giles admitted. He held his arm out towards the building, "After you, Mr. Bloody. Shall we get started?" Spike stopped his bouncing and stood up straighter, pushing his chest out and shoulders back before swaggering towards the door. Giles couldn't help but notice it was almost as if the vampire was slipping into another persona all together. It was much different from the vampire he had first met that night in the library when Buffy had intercepted that stake for him, effectively saving his life. Spike had been a nervous wreck then. As soon as they had gotten back to his office and had closed the door, he had lost that tough guy attitude he'd had. He hadn't said a word as he'd placed Buffy on the desk and -after turning his back on them to save Buffy's modesty- had spent the next few moments fiddling nervously with his lighter as they had tended to Buffy's wounds, flinching every time that she made any sort of sound to indicate that she was in pain.

Now, Spike didn't even pause as he broke the lock on the front door and headed in with Giles on his heels. They could see a light coming from the back of the store and headed straight for it. They found the man they were looking for kneeling in front of some sort of two-faced statue. The man had blood smeared on his face and wounds on his palms. Spike gave Giles a questioning look to confirm that it was the guy they were looking for. When the Watcher nodded once, Spike closed the gap between him and Ethan to grab the man by his throat and pin him to the far wall.

Ethan let out a yelp of surprise as he tried to pry the vampires hand off his throat. He looked at Spike as he shifted into game face and any color Ethan had left drained from his face as Spike bared his fangs. Spikes demon was preening at the violence and the smell of fear rolling off of the man. Giles watched all of this with a forced sense of detachment. He had to remember that they were here for a reason and that this man, mere inches away from the infamous vampire, was the bad guy in this situation, and not the one with the century long body count. When Ethan started to wheeze, Giles took that as his cue.

"Good evening Ethan, It's been a while, has it not? I believe we have some business to discuss," Giles said calmly as he came to stand besides Spike. " I don't believe you have been formally introduced to my acquaintance here. This is William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers. He's here to help me find a solution to our sudden predicament. It seems that there has been some sort of spell cast over the people who have purchased costumes from this particular shop. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" Giles asked as he looked around at the backroom with its candles and altar to the statue of Janus -the figure he now recognized-. The mage just gurgled out a low noise as an answer. "Oh, how inconsiderate of us. William could you loosen up a bit, I do believe as humans we need to breathe to talk." Spike smiled widely, showing more fangs than before.

"Sorry Rupes, I forget sometimes," Spike supplied as he loosened his grip on the terrified mans throat, allowing him to take in a large, gulping breath of air.

"Hello Ripper, long time no call," Ethan wheezed. Giles didn't seem amused.

"Tell me how to stop the spell," Giles calmly demanded.

"Or else what? You'll have your little pet vampire bite me? I don't think you will. You've gone soft Ripper. You don't want your little friends finding out who you really are. But I know you, so tell me what's in it for me," the mage smirked and attempted to sound confident. Spike could smell his fear and hear his heart pounding in his chest. He was attempting to bluff them. Spike began to laugh.

"I'm no ones pet, mate. I'm here because this is my town and I don't want some two bit, big bad wanna be stepping on my turf and making a nuisance out of one of the few peaceful nights a year we get. I mean, this whole holiday is tacky enough already, it doesn't need any help from wankers like you," Spike supplied. Ethan laughed.

"I know all about your shinny little soul, so does the actual man in charge of this nasty little burg. So I know you won't do anything, your all talk MATE," Ethan shot back. Spike narrowed his eyes.

"Soul wont stop me from ripping my fangs into your throat and draining you down. Just makes me feel bad about it later," Spike corrected. Ethan's eyes widened a fraction at the matter of fact delivery of the vampires words. Spike ran his tongue over his fangs as if in anticipation of the act. Giles put his hand on the arm Spike had at Ethan's throat as if holding him back.

"Break the spell Ethan, then leave and never comeback," Giles demanded. Ethan took one more look at Spike who had a crazed look about him before meeting Giles' eyes.

"Janus, break the statue," he finally revealed. Giles turned and grabbed the statue, sparing no time in lifting it over his head to throw it and smash it on the floor. Spike never took his eyes off the mage, but he did release him. Letting him fall to the floor. When the statue was in pieces, a strange electrical jolt traveled through the room and caused all three men to tense up. When it was over, Giles turned to face Ethan who sat the ground near the vampires feet. He pulled his glasses off and began to methodically clean the lenses while looking down his nose at the panting man.

"I never want to see you again after this, if we do, you won't get off so easy next time," Giles stated with eerie calm that even Spike was a little afraid to hear. Spike took a step back from the mage so he could turn and leave while Giles finished cleaning his glasses. He placed them back on his face before he suddenly delivered a surprise kick right to Ethan's kidneys. Spike gave the Watcher a calculating look, which Giles ignored. "That was just in case you thought I wasn't serious." Then, both the Watcher and the vampire left the moaning chaos mage to pick himself up off the floor, heading out to make sure everything was back to normal. They left the shop with a silent understanding between them: They were now unwilling allies.

...Moments earlier on the outskirts of Sunnydale...

Carmen was on her way out of town in a car that she had taken a fancy too. Her duffle was in the back seat containing her latest acquisitions, which were courtesy of the late Josephus du Lac and the town Mayor, Richard Wilkins. She had found out that he wasn't really the 3rd, thanks to some very interesting material she had run across after breaking into town hall to find out the location of the Du Loc tomb. The master thief was eager to get out of town after her little discovery and was speeding down the highway when a wave of light-headedness came over her. Buffy slammed on the breaks of the new model sports car as she came back to her senses. She barley managed to avoid the telephone pole as she slid into the ditch off the side of the road. When the car came to its inevitable, sudden stop -with surprisingly little damage- Buffy thanked whatever being had been watching over her and took a deep breath to pull herself together. She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached into the backseat and grabbed her bag before getting out of the car and heading back towards town as quickly as her feet could carry her. She needed to talk to Giles immediately: they had another apocalypse to avert.


End file.
